


Makes You Beautiful

by BairnSidhe



Series: Marvel 'Verse [3]
Category: Marvel (Movies), Teen Titans (Animated Series), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Amnesia, Anal Sex, And safe sum-ups in the end notes so you can skip a chapter if you need to, Because tail, Bigotry & Prejudice, But not forever, Charles is a manipulator, Double Penetration in Two Holes, F/M, First Time, Gen, I swear I will provide chapter specific warnings, Jean is a grump, Kurt is blue in more than one way, Lynch mob, Oral Sex, Rated for future stuff, Riot - Freeform, child endangerment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-01
Updated: 2016-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-11 08:39:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 58,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2061438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BairnSidhe/pseuds/BairnSidhe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Valarie Logan loves her baby brother, but because he's a mutant their lives are not easy.  Until they find their way to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where Garfield learns how to use his powers, while Valarie learns that there's a certain blue German teacher that finds her fascinating.  Will she accept that she can be loved too?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Origin Story

**Author's Note:**

> So, just to clarify, this is set in the Marvel world, with mostly Marvel characters, but Gar Logan is the Teen Titans character Beast Boy. He has the same powers and personality, but his backstory is different.
> 
> The idea for this story came from my muse, Otaku330 from AFF.
> 
> Edit: Somehow I forgot to put in a chapter specific warning for Child neglect on this one. So yes, there is neglect by parental units. Val steps in, but she's a kid too, so that's hardly better. I can't think of a way to do a safe sum-up for this chapter, so there isn't one, I'm sorry.

Mark Logan, his wife Marie, and their daughter Valarie were all thrilled when Marie got pregnant.  Valarie had been asking for a sibling since her seventh birthday, and when her parents told her she was getting a baby brother or sister shortly before her eighth birthday, she declared it the best present ever.  They spent the next seven months preparing the nursery and baby-proofing the house.  Marie didn’t want to know the gender of the baby before it was born, so the nursery was painted green and yellow.  They didn’t know it yet, but soon Mr. and Mrs. Logan would hate the color green.  Valarie would learn to think it was the most amazing color of all.

Garfield Logan was born in the early hours of the morning, healthy and pink and screaming like there was no tomorrow.  He was wrinkly and wet and possibly damaging the eardrums of everyone in the building when Valarie first saw him, after sneaking in from the waiting room, and she thought he was the most wonderful little person in the world.  His family was overjoyed at his birth.  But within two years, that would change.

Shortly before his second birthday, things started to change with Garfield.  His medium brown hair got darker, which was no surprise, but then his rosy complexion started to pale, then a green tinge crept in around the edges of his hairline.  His parents rushed him to the hospital, but aside from the skin color change, there was nothing wrong with him that the doctors could find.  Mark and Marie insisted on a second opinion, then on a third.  Their baby was steadily turning green, and they would do anything to find out why.  They were on their fifth specialist when the word “mutant” came up.

“My baby can’t be a mutant!  We’re all normal people, good solid, honest folk.  It’s got to be some kind of strange disease!”

“Ma’am, I have to ask you to calm down.  Mutation is just a part of how the world works.  Some people are born that way, and it’s no criticism of you or your family that Garfield is a mutant.  But if you keep seeking for some miracle cure to a disease that he doesn’t have, you’ll be endangering his life.  There are some resources out there if you need help with whatever else develops as Garfield grows up…”

“Get your stinkin’ pamphlets away from us.  Our son isn’t a mutant.  Come on, Marie, we’ll find a doctor who won’t insult us.”

Half a year and thirty three specialists later, Mr. and Mrs. Logan had to face facts.  Their son was now entirely green, even his hair, and had developed a disturbing tendency to make highly realistic animal noises.  Valarie thought her baby brother was even more amazing now, but her parents were appalled and embarrassed by their son.  And so, Garfield Logan became a family secret.  His parents told everyone he had a rare immune disorder and had to stay at home so he wouldn’t get sick.  He never went outside, and for years his only friend was his sister.

Valarie started trying to make his life better as soon as she saw that her parents were going to treat her beloved brother like a curse.  She would go straight to his room after school and tell him all the things that had happened that day.  When he turned five, she started homeschooling him.  She bought books for him out of her babysitting money and dug her old educational toys out of the attic.  She started asking for money instead of presents at holidays to further fund her brother’s education.  When he was old enough to be trusted with it, she would leave her laptop with him when she went to school.  He made friends on the internet, but his only human contact was his sister.  When he was eight, he started asking questions.

“Val…”

“Yeah, Gar?”

“Why can’t I go outside?  Vic is joining a football team, Terra is going camping this summer, and Rick’s got a job as a lifeguard.  Why can’t I do those things?”

“Because….  Because Mark and Marie say so, and for now we have to do what they say, because we’re kids and they’re grown-ups.  But when I turn eighteen, I promise I’ll make it so you get to go outside.”

“Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise, Gar.”

Valarie kept her promise, working harder and harder to earn money to fund their escape, but still spending time with Garfield, even if it meant she got four hours of sleep a night.  She also invested time in learning skills they might need.  She took Home Ec. classes, and taught herself sleight of hand in case they ever needed to resort to more drastic measures.  The one friend who had stuck with her when she dedicated so little time to spend with friends, a sassy, irrepressible young man named Marlowe, also helped.  Marlowe knew her plans, and donated to the ‘Free Gar Fund’ as he called it.  With his help she managed to buy a car and subtly stock it with extra clothes for her and Gar, a first aid kit, and bottles of water and granola bars.

The daring escape was scheduled for Prom Night.  Marlowe distracted Mr. and Mrs. Logan by pretending to pick Val up for the dance.  Valarie had no intention of going to the dance, and had returned the dress her mother bought her to add to the escape fund.  She was, in fact, outside Gar’s window on a ladder.  His natural agility as they clambered down the ladder made her heart ache.  He was meant to be outside, climbing all over jungle gyms and trees and developing a rock-climbing habit.

The car was waiting for them, just down the block.  She buckled her brother into the front seat and sprinted to the driver’s side.  Taped to the inside of the driver’s side window was an envelope.  She ripped it down and tossed it into the catchall in-between the two front seats.  Whatever Marlowe had left her, it could wait; the plan relied on her getting as far from San Fran as she could before her parents called the cops.  She put her foot to the gas and sped out of the subdivision.

She drove through the night, only stopping to gas the car.  As the sun rose over the highway just past Las Vegas, she felt lighter for the first time in a long time.  Nobody would ever lock Gar up again.  Valarie looked over at him and smiled.  He had wanted to look out the car window at everything, even though at night he surely wouldn’t see much, and now he was asleep against the window.  She kept driving until she needed sleep like she needed to breathe. There wasn’t a motel anywhere near, but there was a truck stop where she parked and took a nap.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Valarie woke to a sticky mouth and panic.  How long had she been out?  Was Gar still in the car?  No, he wasn’t.  She lurched out of the car and proceeded to scream Gar’s name.  She whirled in panic.  There was no-one around.  Her heart thudded in her ears and her throat clenched in panic.  The doors to the little convenience store were locked.  *Right, it’s Sunday.*  The highway was too obviously dangerous for him to have crossed it, wasn’t it?  That left the scrubland around the store.

“Gar!  Gar, where are you?”  She called out for him in hopes her could hear her.  She got an idea, just an instinct, that he was listening and hiding anyway.  He had liked hiding and jumping out to scare her before, and maybe he just didn’t know that now was not a good time to do that.  “Garfield Mark Logan!  You get your fanny over here right this instant!”

“Aww, Val…you’re no fun,” came the reply from her elbow.

“How the…where did you come from?”

“The ground.  I was a mouse.”

“A mou-… not going there.  What gave you the brilliant idea to go running off while I was sleeping?  Something terrible could have happened to you.”

“I wanted to play Hide and Seek.  I’ve always wanted to play it, but there was never enough room in my room and I wasn’t allowed outside.”  Val sighed.

“Normally when you play Hide and Seek, you get the other person’s permission.  Just hiding without telling me scared me.  Bad things can happen to kids on their own.  That’s part of why I waited so long to get us out of there.  One of us needed to be an adult.  Don’t scare me like that again, ok?”

“Ok Val.  I won’t do it again.  It’s hot, can we get lemonade?  Everybody says lemonade is the best when it’s hot out.”

“We’ll have to drive a little more.  This store is closed right now.  But when we find a place to get some, I’ll get you some lemonade.”

“Yes!  Best sister ever!  Um.  Can I run around a little bit more?  I like running.”

“Sure.  Stay in sight of the store and don’t go anywhere near the road.”  Gar gave her a grin that lit up his face like a Christmas tree.  She returned the smile then ducked back to the car to grab the envelope Marlowe had left her.

_Dear Vals,_

_Please tell me you’re halfway to Detroit by now.  If you stop to read this before you clear Cali borders I’m going to be displeased.  I hope you and Gar make it, I really, really do.  I did some last minute research I hadn’t gotten to share with you before I had to get ready for the big night.  There are rumors of a mutant safe-haven in Colorado.  It’s some old hippy commune that doesn’t ask questions.  No clue where or anything, just somewhere in Colorado._

_I’m gonna miss you, but I hope you wind up somewhere great and safe for you and Gar.  If you check the glove box, I got you a prepay phone that has my number in it (I know you forget numbers), give me a call when you’re somewhere safe, or if you need to talk._

_Chin up, Valentine._

_Big Hugs,_

_Marlowe_


	2. Safe Haven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val finds a place that's safe for Gar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't always update so fast, but I had a crap day and posting makes me feel better. So, you get a new chapter!
> 
> Warning, there is a bigoted idiot that makes an appearance in this chapter, and insults get used. I tried to write an accurate encounter, so I didn't pull punches. This is largely inspired by something that happened to me, so it isn't super unrealistic.
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to tamarama for kudos, and naruturd for kudos and commenting.

They had to go twenty miles before the next largish turn off, where the convenience store part of the truck stop was open.  That was long enough that Valarie was starting to overthink things.  She didn’t want to be anything like their parents, but as she drove she couldn’t help but remember all the news stories about people being mean to mutants in public venues.  She wouldn’t make Gar stay in the car, but how would she handle it if someone got physical with him?  She’d taken self-defense lessons as a part of her preparation for this escape, but what if it wasn’t enough?  What if what she’d learned was pointless because it was Gar being roughed up?

She was still worrying when they pulled into the gas station.  Before she turned off the car she looked at Gar and caught his eyes.

“Gar, we need to talk before we go in there.”

“Ok Val, what do we need to talk about?  Is this about the lemonade?  Cause if you’re worried that it’s gonna cost too much, we don’t have to get any.”  She knew Gar had a very loose grasp of what things cost, but she knew he shouldn’t have thought lemonade would be a deal breaker, after she said she’d get it.  He was probably picking up on her fears and trying to give her an out.  But that shy, cautious effort at giving her an easy answer only reaffirmed her need to treat him better than Mark and Marie had.

“No, we can get the lemonade.  But there are some things I haven’t told you about the outside world and I need you to know it before we interact with people.  Some people get scared of people who are different, by mutants.  Sometimes people get angry and yell and say not-nice things.  I’ll do my best to keep you safe, but if things get rough, you just come back to the car and get in and lock the doors.”

“Is this why I had to stay in my room?”

“Sort of…Mark and Marie made you stay in your room because they’re the kind of people who feel like they have to fit in, and you stand out.  But standing out isn’t a bad thing, not to everyone.  But now that you’re getting out and about, you do need to know that not everybody is nice.  So if something bad happens….”

“I go get in the car.  Ok, can we get lemonade now?”

The walk to the doors was an adventure all its own for Valarie.  Her fears multiplied as they stepped into the refreshingly cool store.  There was hardly anyone there, but much like the kill boxes in video games, the emptiness seemed more threatening.  Gar didn’t seem to notice the tension she felt, instead wondering over the vast array of drinks.  He held her hand, and the contact helped Val stay focused.  They selected drinks, and went to the counter.  The man behind the counter looked a little shocked by Gar’s appearance, but he made no move to stop them from buying their lemonade.  Val was beginning to think she had gotten worked up for nothing when a big guy stepped between them and their car outside.  She tried to go around him, but the man blocked her.

“Excuse me, but I’d like to go around.”

“I’d like to not have to look at that freak’s face, but we don’t always get what we want, do we?”

“My brother is _not_ a freak, but if you let us go around you won’t have to see either of us.  Everybody wins.”

“’sept for the fact I’d be giving the wrong impression.  Muties like him shouldn’t be out in the light of day.  Can’t let that go by.”

“My brother gets to go out in the light of day whenever he damn well feels like it, and you don’t have a say in the matter.  Get out of our way.”

“What’s a girl like you see in a freak like him anyway?  He like some kinda pet?”  Val moved to go around him again.  The man grabbed her arm hard, snarling into her face, his rancid breath choking her.  “I’m talking to you.”

“Get your hands off my sister!”

“Gar, go to the car.  I can handle this, just go to the car.”  She moved to bend his finger back and he grabbed her by the throat, lifting her up onto tiptoes.  A snarling roar split the air and the thug went down under the weight of a bright green tiger.  The tiger didn’t maul the man, just sat on him for a little.  Just until he fainted.  Then there was Gar, panting and sweating where the tiger had been.

“Sorry.  I know you said go to the car, but he was hurting you.”

“I’m ok now, Gar honey, but I’m a little confused about…you were a tiger.”

“Yeah, the big ones wear me out more; I don’t have great practice at them.  But a mouse or a cat can’t take down a bully.”  He got up and moved to the car.  Almost on auto pilot, Val got in the car.  She knew she shouldn’t drive just yet.  She needed to get her head around the fact that her brother could be a tiger, or apparently a mouse or a cat.

“I didn’t know you could…how long have you been able to…change?”

“About three months, I guess.  I’m sorry I kept it secret.”

“That’s ok, Gar, everybody needs things that are just for them.  Thank you for stopping him, but in the future, be careful when you do that.  It might scare people and scared people are stupid people, sometimes.  I just want you safe.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Gar was asleep in the front seat again when Val pulled to a stop in the parking lot of a tiny little motel that advertised cheap rooms and free wi-fi.  She got them a room and sleep-walked Gar into the little room and onto one of the two twin beds.  Then she plugged in her laptop and got to work searching for a commune in Colorado, trying to track down the lead Marlowe had found.

Hours later, after many unfruitful searches that yielded nothing but dead links and interesting historical information about Drop City, she found a small, personally built website about an ‘intentional community’ (as far as she could tell that meant commune, but with fewer hippy connotations) outside the town of Hartman, Colorado.  From what she could tell, it was based on a farm, sufficiently far from the tiny town as to be private, and the website said that anyone was welcome.  She would just have to trust that they meant mutants too when they said that.  Everything on the site seemed legit, but you never knew with homebrew websites, it could be a pack of lies.  But there seemed to be little to no point in lying about being an old hippy commune that accepted mutants.

Her thoughts going in circles, Val wrote down the directions to the farm and closed up her laptop.  She’d take them in that direction and if anything felt hinky she’d find something else.  She needed sleep in an actual bed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day found them driving through the tiny, tiny town of Hartman.  Seriously, the town was blink-and-you’ll-miss-it small.  Val took a detour to look it over, but all she could see was a little pixel of a town that looked like a Norman Rockwell painting.  The commune was to the south of the town, not by much, but there was a definite boundary of town versus farmland.  She drove up the long compacted gravel drive until they reached a turn-around in front of a main house.  Elsewhere, she could see other buildings, but the big white farmhouse seemed to be the center of operations.

“Stay here while I knock on the door, Gar.  I want to see if this place is safe first.”

“Aww, Val, I want to go check out that vegetable garden.  I won’t do anything stupid or anything.  Please?”

“No.  It’s not because I think you’ll do something bad, but if this place isn’t safe I want to know before you get out of the car.”

“I can protect myself you know.  I did ok with that guy at the gas station, didn’t I?”

“The fact that you can turn into a tiger for short periods of time is a great comfort to me, but that could be even more dangerous.  We don’t know if these people have guns or not and even a tiger can be hurt.  Just stay in the car while I check it out.”

“Vaaaaaalllll….”

She was about to respond to his pleas when someone knocked on her window.  She rolled down the window and peered out at the woman standing by the car.  The woman was older, silvered hair cut in a short bob and held back with a pumpkin colored scarf.  She was dressed in a loose blouse and a long skirt in autumn colors.  Her face was the kind of face that inspires trust, round and smiling and serene.

“Hello.  Were you intending on coming here or were you aiming for somewhere else?”

“Is this the Chenoweth Intentional Community?”

“Yes.  Would you like to come inside?  Hazel just finished a batch of zucchini bread.”

“Um, that depends.  My brother is….”

“Rather verdant?  That’s ok.  No-one here will harm him in any way for being who he is, or you for that matter.  I’m Glynn.”  She held her hand out and Val awkwardly shook it.

“She said it’s safe, Val, does that mean I can go look at the garden now?  Pleeeeease?”

“If it’s ok with Glynn if you look at the garden.  And no touching anything without permission.”

“It’s alright.  Would you like to walk around the gardens too?  I can come with you and answer any questions.”

“Yes please.”  Val climbed out of the car.  Unsurprisingly, Gar was already halfway to the vegetable garden as she stood up.  At least he remembered to close his door.  She and Glynn walked at a more sedate pace.  Glynn told her about the concept of intentional communities in general and theirs in specific.  It was a non-religion-specific eco-village community.  They wanted to limit their impact on the world and work in harmony with the land and each other.  The official position on mutants was that anybody capable of saying please and thank you qualified as a person and persons were welcome, regardless of genetic status.

“So, does that interest you?  What are you looking for?”  The question didn’t seem to be entirely about whether or not they would stay, but that was the only way Val knew how to answer it.

“We’re looking for a place we can live that is safe for Gar, where he can go outside whenever he wants, within reason.  He won’t be any trouble, he’s a good kid, and I’ll look after him.”

“I have no doubt he’s a good kid.  But if I may impose, why are you raising him?  Where are your parents in all this?”

“They…Mark and Marie weren’t the parents Gar needed.  I don’t want to talk about it, it’s a painful subject.  Just know that I would do anything for my brother and I need a place he can be happy.”

“Are they looking for you?  I’m not going to turn you in to someone who’d hurt your brother, but if there’s a risk of a taskforce breaking down our door looking for runaways or a kidnapped kid….”

“I’m eighteen and there’s nothing they can say about me living where I choose, and they barely wanted to admit Gar existed.  Be a bit out of character to call for an amber alert now.”

“So you want to live here?  I haven’t shown you the buildings yet.”

“Yes, we probably should look at the buildings.  Gar!  Come on buddy, we’re going to go look at the buildings.”

“Ok!”

The main house was where the communal kitchen and dining areas were, as well as the only TV on the premises.  The upstairs of the house were all private bedrooms already taken.  The next building had been built when the demand for housing outgrew the main house.  It was a large building, almost dorm-like.  The rooms available there were set up with two rooms on either side of a shared bathroom.  It was perfect for them.  Gar immediately located a free bedroom pair with one on the corner and asked if that could be his room.  His pleading eyes would have convinced anyone, but Glynn and Val were already inclined to give him the room.

They went back to Val’s car and gave Gar the job of hauling all the things they’d packed up to the second floor rooms.  They hadn’t packed much, just three boxes and a suitcase of clothes and toiletries.  While he got their stuff up to their rooms, Val went with Glynn to meet the other leaders of the commune.

Jeffery and May were of a similar age to Glynn, Jeffery a mischievous little man with a wry wit and his wife was a plump matronly type who told Val she’d be eating more if she stayed and brooked no argument (not that there was any, Val was only underfed because she’d been sacrificing some of her lunch money for the escape fund).  Tobey was younger than them, but not as young as Val.  He had messy brown hair and a pierced eyebrow, but when she told them the basics of why she was Gar’s only real parent (so they would know not to do things that might trigger Gar), he patted her hand and gave it a small, reassuring squeeze. The final member of the core group of the Chenoweth Intentional Community was Astrid, the youngest of the lead group.  She was Glynn’s daughter, and willowy and ethereal, unlike the others who seemed so grounded.

They ran the rules of the commune by her, and it was all pretty much just common sense.  Everyone seemed nice enough and she decided it was ok to relax a bit.  Just a bit, though, she hadn’t yet met the rest of the people living there.

They moved in and settled down.  There were no incidents of an anti-mutant nature, and the rest of the commune seemed to enjoy his wit and charm.  Not so much the times he turned into large animals without warning, but he learned not to practice when other people were nearby after it was discovered that one of the residents had a phobia of bears.  Life was good and Val began to truly relax.  She helped around the commune with raising their food, and with housing and meals taken care of, she was able to use the rest of the Free Gar Fund to pay for more educational materials for Gar.

All was well, and the two of them were happy, for a time.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me here: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com


	3. Growing Pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when Val and Gar thought things were going to be easier, trouble comes a knocking. Thankfully, so does a certain superteam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is another bigoted asshole in this chapter. He also is apparently a charismatic sumbitch, because he incites a riot, and that ain't easy. If you are going to be triggered by this, please skip to the endnotes where I will provide a sum-up of what happened so you can move on to the next chapter.
> 
> Much thanks to naruturd for going over the chapter for me when i was going in circles.
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to pastaandscones for kudos, and to naruturd and tamarama for commenting

They had been living comfortably for over three years.  Every one of Gar’s birthdays free was a gift, and Val cherished being able to watch her brother grow from a somewhat shy, socially awkward boy into a charming, exuberant teen.  When the money from the Free Gar Fund ran low, Val felt safe letting Astrid look after Gar while she got a job at the tiny little comics-and-games store in town.  She would never in a million years tell Gar this, but having something that was hers, even just a shitty part-time job, helped her feel better about herself.  The money of course, went to buy new clothes for the two of them, and more educational materials for Gar as he transitioned into High School work.  Some of it, just a bare fraction, went to buying video games for them.  One of their bonding activities had been Mario Kart nights ever since he was old enough to hold the controller.

The evening of one particularly trying day, Gar approached her about something he wanted.  She could always tell, because it started with him in a housecat form, cuddling up and being adorable.  Sometimes he would be a housecat to snuggle because she looked like she needed it, but that particular brand of big-eyed, face-licking, belongs-on-lolcatz cuteness was usually an attempt to butter her up.

“What’s the motivation for this, Gar?”  He hopped off her lap and changed back into his normal form.

“Well, my birthday is coming up….”

“And you have an idea what you want.”

“Yup!  I want to go to your work with you for the day.  I’ll be really quiet and polite and won’t cause any trouble.  Pinky promise.”

Val knew that there was a possibility of some jackass making a scene over Gar.  Her boss seemed pretty laid back, but they’d never discussed mutants or mutant rights before.  Politics just never came up, so she had no clue if she’d get fired over bringing Gar in.  Not that she’d want to work for someone who’d treat her brother like that, but the job was the only independent source of income they had.  They might be able to get by on the share of the proceeds from selling produce, like the others in the commune, but none of the others were raising a boy who grew like a weed.  But on the other hand, was confining him to the commune any better than confining him to the second floor of the Logan’s house?  She’d vowed to do better than them at raising Gar.

Val looked at him and smiled.  She couldn’t help smiling when he looked so hopeful and cute.  She could swear his eyes got bigger when he wanted something, but as far as she knew his transformations were limited to animals, not individual body parts.  Frequently she wished she could ask someone about Gar’s powers and what was normal.

“You realize that if I’m working I can’t be talking with you or reading comics with you, right?  I have to focus on work when I’m on the clock.”

“That’s ok, I just want to see what you do when you’re not here.  And the place sounds really cool, with comics and video games and even tables to play tabletop games at.  I’ve never played a pen and paper RPG, but it sounds fun.”

“Well, maybe you’ll find someone to play with.”

“Does that mean I get to go with you?”

“Yes, but I need you on your best behavior.  Indoor voice, don’t distract me or my co-workers, and no turning into animals.  I know that you’re safe to be around as a tiger, but not everybody does, and even a harmless animal might scare someone if they aren’t expecting the change.  And scared people are stupid people who say nasty things they shouldn’t and I don’t want to have to deck someone while I’m working.”

“Alright!  I’ll be the best little brother ever!  Thank you!”

“You already are the best little brother.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Gar’s birthday started with a celebratory breakfast cooked by Astrid.  They made pancakes from scratch, eggs, and bacon substitute.  Most of the commune’s residents were some variety of vegetarian or vegan, and Gar had quickly decided he didn’t mind eggs or milk, but as he could literally _be_ any animal, meats were on his “only if I have to” list.  And honestly, after three years, Val had gotten used to meat substitutes.

Over breakfast, Gar got to open his presents.  There were new shirts from Jeffery, most with animals on them, and a drawing of him and Val together from May.  Tobey had gotten him a boxed set of the next four books in a manga he liked.  Glynn had found a big, fully illustrated book of exotic animals for him to study.  Hazel, a shy girl known for her baking skills, had a chocolate cake sitting in the fridge for later.  A few other residents had gotten him cards, some with money in them, but on the whole the commune wasn’t big on material possessions.

Val picked at her Colorado Rockies jersey as Gar gave everyone a hug.  She was really worried about taking Gar in to work with her.  She’s asked her boss if it was ok if her brother came in on his birthday, promising he’d be good and nervously mentioning that he was a mutant.  Evan had agreed that Gar could come and hang out as long as Val still did her job.  He’d sort of shrugged at being informed of Gar’s genetic status.  Apparently he had very few opinions about mutants, never having met one.  But despite his assurances that he’d never ban her brother from the shop, Val worried about how the customers would take it.

However, there was no sense in driving up her blood pressure over something she couldn’t change at this point.  Instead she took a calming breath and checked her appearance in the mirror by the door.  Thick brownish red hair that fought every attempt at styling tamed into a side braid, check (hopefully it would stay that way).  Cactuar earrings that always made her feel a little better, check.  No make-up, but then she never wore it.  It seemed like a waste of money that could be better spent.  She looked just as composed and relaxed as she did every day, despite her worries.  *You can do this* she told herself.

“Ready to go, Gar?”

“You bet!”  He bounced over, pure excitement shining in his eyes.

“Then get to the car.  We’re heading out.  Bye, everybody!  We’ll be back for dinner and that cake.”

“Take care!” Glynn called.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Metropolis Comics and Games was nestled in between a hardware store and a barbershop.  The tiny brick building was unassuming and to someone who’d seen comics and game shops in a major city the selection was moderate at best.  But as Val let Gar in, his eyes went wide and a big grin spread across his face.

“This place is AWESOME!”

“Inside voice, Gar.  Evan, this is Gar, Gar, this is my boss, Mr. Reynolds.”

“Hi!  Nice to meet you, Mr. Reynolds.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.  I hear a lot about you.  Feel free to read any comic that’s not in a collector’s sleeve.  We have bean bag chairs in that corner, if you just want to chill out.”  Turning to Val, he said “The barcode scanner is glitching again, so either do that voodoo you do so well or be prepared to type in costs manually.”

“Did you leave it plugged in overnight again?  You know it fritzes when it’s not unplugged overnight.”

“I might have….”

“I’ll take a look.”

So began another day of work.  Gar was very well behaved and spent most of his time quietly reading.  Jack, one of their regular customers, came in and after a brief double take sat down next to Gar and struck up a conversation about the new Batman video game.  A few other regulars gave Gar dirty looks, but Val wasn’t sure her brother noticed.  One guy, Richard, always annoying because he seemed to think Val was there as a decoration, did not only a double, but a triple take, before going up to the two boys.

“Hey, kid, you should be more careful.  That’s a mutant.  They’re dangerous.”  Val moved to be closer to Gar, subtly drifting closer.  At his age he would hardly welcome the vociferous defense she wanted to give, but she needed to be closer to him in case Richard-the-pig got physical.

Jack rolled his eyes with the scorn only a thirteen year old can pack into such a small expression.  “Dude.  Gar’s chill, man,” he said before turning back to the conversation.  “I’m just saying that if they really want to improve the puzzle side of the game, they should let you play as Oracle.  She wasn’t nearly as effective when she was Batgirl.  Maybe it was age or something, but she got better at--”

“Are you kidding me?  What would your mother think that you’re hanging out with a mutie like it’s no big deal?”

Jack leveled another glare at the man.  “Can you take your mutaphobia elsewhere, please?”

“For all you know he could be controlling your mind right now, you dumb kid!”  His voice increased in volume as he ranted.  Some of the insults were directed at Jack for sticking up for Gar, but most were directed at Gar for simply being who he was.  The invective got louder and more belligerent and crossed the line into threating.

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”  Evan’s voice was cold and hard, like ice.  “You are making my customers uncomfortable.”

“ _I’m_ making… Fuck you, man, you let a goddamn mutie freak into your store and you’re going to treat it like more of a person than a decent human being?  Fuck you!”

“Sir, you’re making a scene, and Gar has just been sitting having a conversation.  One of these things I don’t allow in my store and it isn’t the conversation.  Now kindly get out of my shop before I call the police.”

“Fuck this, fuck you, fuck your store.  It’s a sad day when normal people are chased out of public places for mutants.  I’m gonna make sure everybody knows you’re a goddamn mutant-lover, fucker.”

“Fine, go do that.  Just do it off my property or I’ll have you arrested.”  The man slammed out of the store, still ranting as he disappeared down the street.

“Gar?  You alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll be ok.  But…”

“Gar, no.  I know what you’re thinking, and no.  You’re not bad because of how you are, we’ve had this talk.  You’re still a person, a good person, a better person that that assho—loser.”

“Yeah, man, you’re definitely more human, ‘cause I’m pretty sure that thing was a troll.”

“Thanks Jack.”

“Eh.”  He shrugged.  “So, what were your opinions on the trailer for the Harley Quinn spin-off game?  I kinda thought they put too much emphasis on the Joker, myself…”

Seeing that Jack would keep her brother from thinking himself into a hole, Val went back to work.  An hour later, her shift was up and she and Gar left.  There was a genuine Hazel-made triple chocolate cake waiting for them, not a thing he wanted to miss even if he was making a new friend.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The smallish party that they arrived to back at the commune was as to be expected from the residents of their home.  There was a table with a variety of goodies on the front lawn, Greg and his wife were playing Brazilian dance tunes on their guitars, and a vicious pun war had broken out on the front porch of the main house.  Everybody stopped to wish Gar a happy birthday and give him a hug.

Gar had waded into the pun war and was giving as good as he got when Val got the call.

“Val, shit, I’m so sorry.”

“Evan?  What’s wrong?”

“That guy I kicked out, he somehow got the town all riled up about you and Gar and….  Shit.  There is an honest to God lynch mob forming on Main Street right now.  I called the cops, and Sherriff Moonstar said he’d try to get things under control, but I don’t know what he and one deputy can do.  I’m so sorry.  I don’t know what to do.”

“It’ll be alright Evan.  I’m afraid we’re going to have to leave town, though.  I won’t let Gar stay near a town that forms lynch mobs over him.  That’s not conducive to physical or mental safety.”

“I hate to lose you, but I understand.  I’m sorry, again, for all this.”

“You aren’t the one running us off, Evan.  I’ve got to go.  Thanks for the heads up.”  With that, she hung up the cell phone and sprinted to Gar.  She hurriedly explained the situation to Glynn and took Gar’s hand and ran back to their rooms.  The boxes from their original flight were still in her room, folded flat.  She reassembled them and told Gar to pack.

They had more stuff now than they did when they arrived, so it quickly became a question of what could be left behind.  Val made the executive decision that CDs were to be left behind, as they had all of it backed up on their laptop.  Her box was mostly Gar’s educational stuff, a few video games, and the box of recipe cards the various cooks of the commune had given her as a present last Christmas.  Gar packed his boxes with more video games, the presents that he’d been given by their friends, a few comics, and the photo album Glynn had made them of their first year here.  Their clothes were tossed in the big rolling suitcase with their tooth and hair brushes.  As they left the building that had been home, they saw it was too late.

The mob was gathered by the main house, and their friends had formed a human chain blocking the mob from reaching Gar and Val.

“What do we do, Val?”

“They’re between us and the car.  So, praying seems like a valid option.”

The crowd began a chant of derogatory terms, syllables clashing as nobody was coherent enough to co-ordinate the chant so it could be understood.  But the cacophony of sharp, angry, hurtful words communicated raw hatred without needing to know the details.  Val recognized some of these people, had thought they were decent enough, but now they were raving lunatics.

Sheriff Moonstar pulled up in his police car, and climbed out to level a withering glare at the many voiced monster standing on the driveway of the Chenoweth Intentional Community.  He walked slowly and deliberately toward the front of the crowd.

“Now folks, I want you to take a deep breath and ask yourself why you’re here and if it’s worth jail time for.  ‘Cause there are laws about things like hate crimes and trespassing and child endangerment.  Lindsey, you’re a teacher, if you get charged with child endangerment you’ll lose your job and be blacklisted.”

“What child?  That _thing_ isn’t human.  It’s got power no human should have and we’re not safe with that mutant in our town.”

“Watch your mouth, young lady,” Glynn snapped.  “Gar is the sweetest, gentlest, most responsible boy I’ve ever met.  And since when do you speak poorly of people you’ve never met, Lindsey Elizabeth Roe?”  The teacher blinked and some of the fire faded from her eyes.  Glynn had a very potent disappointed look, and it was currently going full blast.

“He’s got designs on my nephew!” cried a man in the back.  “You know what they say about mutants and their deviant desires.”  That accusation rallied the mob once more, and someone threw something at the line of defense.

The fighting that broke out was equal parts chaos, blood and indiscriminate violence.  The Sheriff tried to pull as many people from the brawl as he could, but one man is hardly a match for a full scale riot.  Val huddled with Gar in the shadow of the main house, shivering from fear and desperate for a way out.

Without warning, a strange looking jet appeared in the sky and figures _leapt_ down to join the battle.  The newcomers were brutally effective and soon the rioters realized that fighting these strong, trained, skilled people was a waste of effort and moved away.  The guy who started all this was the last to stop, shouting that there would be a rematch as he stalked away.  A tall man with a strange visor covering his eyes stepped toward Val and Gar, speaking loudly and projecting his voice so that everyone could hear.

“Young man, I’d like to invite you to come stay with us, where this kind of thing won’t happen.”

“I’m not going anywhere without Val.”  Gar clutched her arm and stuck his chin out mulishly.

“Of course you aren’t.  If you take my brother anywhere, I’m going too.  I’m not giving him up.  That’s the deal.”

The man tilted his head as though he were listening to something far away, then nodded.  “Agreed.  You can both come live with us.”

Knowing that Gar wouldn’t be living near them anymore seemed to remove all the fire that had previously caught the rioters.  Despite having lost his numbers advantage Richard-the-pig tried to run at Gar anyway.  Sheriff Moonstar stepped up and clocked him, before putting cuffs on him and hauling him into the back of the police car.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The arrival of the group Val now knew was the X-Men had bought them some time, so Gar and Val went back to do a more thorough job of packing.  Their friends found more boxes, so very little had to be left behind.  Sitting in the now-empty room that used to be hers, Val tried to squash the nervousness about moving. 

It sounded like a good deal, a home for Gar where no-one would hurt him, teachers who knew what they were doing, teaching whole classes devoted to learning how to safely and ethically use powers.  A doctor that understood mutation and could treat Gar better, not that he got sick that often, but Val still remembered that awful flu that had ripped through him when he was four.  She had been so afraid he would die, and only after loads of whining and refusing to eat had she convinced Mark and Marie to take him to the doctor.  But the doctor wasn’t sure if Gar was medically different from normal, so he was hesitant to prescribe anything without a specialist, which Mark and Marie refused.  Val had learned that Nyquil worked, but Dayquil made him hyper, and that if she gave him milk at night he would throw up.  Since then she had learned that his cuts healed faster than hers and that he had seasonal allergies in the fall, but not the spring.  A doctor that could treat mutants would know loads more than she did.  This was best for Gar.

Still, the nagging worry about leaving the only place that had felt like home since she was ten sent a shiver up her spine.  *No.  I can do this.  Gar needs this, and I need Gar to be safe.  Pull yourself together, Valarie Anne Logan!*  She stood up and joined Gar where he had been waiting in the doorway.

“Val, isn’t this great?  They’re all mutants at this school, they’re like me!  And there’s a teacher who can control the weather, and one who shoots laser beams from his eyes, and one who can walk through walls, and another who _teleports_!  It’s sooooo cool!  And the school is in this big old house and everybody lives there and there’s a pool and a basketball court and they have their own _jet_!  And they said the math teacher really likes video games, so sometimes he throws Mario Kart parties in the rec room.  And we have the phone number for here, and I have Jack’s email, so we’re not going to never talk to our friends.  It’s going to be good, Val, I know it.”

“I’m sure you’re right, you’re a smart kid.  Lets go.”

“Val?  Love you.”

“Love you too, Gar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, safe version, Gar goes to Val's work on his birthday (as a gift) and meets a cool kid and a very not cool adult who is asked to leave after he gets nasty. Later that guy incites a lynch mob, and then a riot (the townies aren't all evil, but this guy is good at manipulating people). The riot ends when the X Men show up and invite Gar and Val to live with them. Val is nervous but doesn't know why because this is best for Gar (she's not good at recognising her own needs as valid), Gar is excited, they pack up and get in the Blackbird.
> 
> You can find me here: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com 
> 
> No teaser this time, I'm not sure what all of the next chapter I'm keeping or if a better line will be written. In lieu of, here's a fun fact. Sheriff Moonstar is Dani Moonstar's Uncle.


	4. Blue Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt struggles with depression and loneliness, but he's got friends to help him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, we finally get to Kurt!
> 
> Chapter specific warnings for depression, mentions of shitty behavior regarding people who use mutants, and booze (not horrible, but I've been asked to tag that before). There's nothing that should require a safe sum-up this time.
> 
> Dedicated to naruturd and tamarama for comments. Comments are Muse Chow (tm).

Kurt flipped lightly over the holographic soldier he was fighting.  The robot under the hologram was solid enough that he didn’t want to be hit by it, but with this one’s reaction time, that was unlikely to happen.  Normally their Danger Room opponents were faster, but with most of the team out on a mission, he was facing a more moderate setting.  Bobby was with him, taking just as much of a break.  Iceman was currently shooting daggers of ice at the robots, taking his time and trying trick shots.

“I love Danger Room sessions when most of the team is gone.  Nothin’ like that chance to goof off in a state-of-the-art virtual reality video game!”

“Hyu may not feel that vay vhen hyu get hit by one of them.  Hyu’re not keeping up any kind of guard.”  Kurt slammed his foot into his opponent’s head hard enough that the internal sensors registered it as a knockout.  Then Kurt teleported to fight the robot coming up behind Bobby.

Thirty minutes later, the lights went up to normal brightness and the robots retreated into the alcoves from which they came, save for the ones too damaged to move.  Kurt and Bobby quickly exited the room before the cleaning bots came to gather up any debris.  The bots were relentless and had a hard time telling living beings from the bits of destroyed robot that they were programed to take into the repair bay to fix up.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

“All I’m saying is you’ve gotten really tense lately,” Bobby argued as they plopped down on sofas in the rec room.  “The Kurt I knew growing up was an unrepentant goofball.  But now you act like some kind of, of, adult!”

“I’m twenty five, Bobby.  And hyu’re twenty four.  I hate to tell you this, but ve _are_ adults.  I grew up.”

“You wound me Kurt!” Bobby struck a dramatic pose, one hand over his heart, the other flung out to the side.  “I’m not an adult!” 

“Hyu teach mathematics, Bobby.  I teach German.  They don’t let non-adults teach.”

“Ok, I concede this point, we may be adults, but that doesn’t mean we have to be sticks in the mud.  And you…” Bobby shook his head.  “I don’t know what’s going on with you this last year or so.  What’s up?”

Kurt recognized that his friend was actually worried, so he gave the question some thought.  The changes had started slowly, and over a long time, so he started at the beginning.  “Vell, it vas a number of things.  After Apocalypse, the old pranks and jokes felt wrong.  Like I’d seen something so…hyu vere there, hyu know how it vas.  And suddenly, practical jokes vere just lame.  And then Amanda convinced me to get rid of the holowatch.  She said she loved me for who I vas, that I never had to hide.  And I loved her, so I did.  I gave it to her as a symbol of how much I loved her, and promised not to hide.  But I figured out pretty quickly that she only loved having a mutant boyfriend.  That I vas some kind of accessory to her.”

“I didn’t know.”  Bobby placed a hand on Kurt’s shoulder.  “I knew you broke up, but you never told me why.  If it hurt so bad, why didn’t you ask for the watch back?”

“Because she might not have loved me, but I loved her.  The watch…giving it to her was a symbol of _my_ love, not hers.  And my love vas still true, even vhen I ended it.  And partly, she vas right, hiding isn’t the answer.  So I kept the promise.  But now…I’m scared to go near non-mutants.  The things they do, the things they say, I may not vant to hide my mutation, but I also am not fond of the idea of getting lynched.  So I stay in more.”

“And you’re a social guy.  Staying cooped up isn’t healthy for you, Kurt.”

“It is preferable to the other options.”  Kurt shrugged.  “I get plenty of human contact here at the school.  And teaching is fulfilling in a vay I never thought it vould be.”

“You’re dying inside, though.  Ever since the break-up you’ve been losing the things that make you… you, and you know it.  Have you even _looked_ at another girl since Amanda?”

“Vhy should I tell hyu?”  Kurt gave him a small grin.  “But because I know hyu’ll give me shit about it until I tell you, no, I have not.  Our former classmates are like sisters, and everyone else is a student.  I’m not a pedophile, and even the over-eighteen ones, vell, I can’t see a student like that.”

“So you’ve ruled out all the people you see daily and you refuse to go out to where you might see other people, people you have _not_ ruled out.”  Bobby suddenly went still for a moment, face blank, a trait that told Kurt he was thinking, that the gears in his head were spinning.  When his face resumed its normal level of life, the features were sincere as he looked his friend in the eye.  “Be honest, and I’m not going to judge if you say yes, but…Kurt, are you asexual?  Or aromantic?  Because if you’re inventing reasons to avoid knowing a girl we might think you should date, so you won’t have to admit you just don’t want a relationship, you need to stop that.  We won’t think less of you for it, I swear.”

“I’m not either of those, thank hyu.  I vould like very much to be in love again.  And I’m as interested in sex as hyu are.  But I don’t want another Amanda, who only loves the idea of dating a visible mutant, and I’m not sure anyone will be able to see past it, vhether or not they see it as good.  I vould like someone who loves me, and I’m not sure that person exists.”

“I’m sure they do.  Everybody here loves you, just, you know, not like that.  Sooner or later you’ll find someone, but not if you hide in the mansion all the time.”

“Easy for hyu to say.  Hyu don’t look like Devil Smurf.”

“I’m not going to win this one without backup, am I?”

“No, hyu are not.”

“Then Ah guess it’s a good thang Ah’m here.”  Rogue smiled from the doorway.  “Ah stocked up on ice cream while Ah was at the store, if yah really are in tha mood for a pity party.  But if you’re more interested in a party-party, Kitty and I were planning on going to Harry’s later.”

“Yeah, we could get everybody who’s not out on mission and give Kurt here a cheer up.”  Bobby gave a playful punch on the arm to his friend.  “I think we still have Amara, Rahne, and Piotr.  Oh, and Tabby’s in town, staying at a hotel, so I think we could call her.  What d’ya say, Kurt?”

“I guess ve could do that,” he reluctantly replied.  He hadn’t really wanted to go out, but it had been too long since he’d seen Tabitha, and she continued to refuse to come to the school.  If there was a chance at hanging out with her again, he’d be willing to face the outside world.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Harry’s Hideaway was a tiny little tavern in Salem Center, and the usual hang out for the staff of Xavier’s school.  The little cluster of his friends made Kurt feel better about being out in public, but he didn’t relax until he was inside.  Bobby and Amara went to the bar to collect drinks and the rest of the group pushed tables together in the back corner.  Kitty and Piotr were obviously miles away, as was to be expected from a couple that only recently got together.  Rahne and Rogue were deep in discussion about …something, Kurt wasn’t sure what, and he felt sort of like the odd man out until Tabitha danced in the door and squealed at the sight of him.

“Blue Boy!  Been too long.  It’s good to see you though.”

“Same to hyu, Tabby.”  He put a hand on his heart and threw the other one out to the side in the very picture of an affronted German mother.  “Hyu never call, hyu never write, I think hyu have forgotten me.”  His accent was purposely thick and brought the desired grin to the face of his friend. 

They hugged briefly, then sat down to the business of catching up.  She knew about the break-up, due to a very drunk, very rambling voicemail left at three am, but now that he was sober she got a better idea of the hell that Amanda had put Kurt through.  Tabitha knew all too well what it was to have someone you love manipulate you and use you for your mutation.  Sure, being coerced into theft wasn’t the same as discovering you are a fashion accessory, but the sting and shame were similar.

Over the course of two pitchers of beer, a half-serious darts competition and an all-too-serious pool game, Tabby talked her blue buddy out of his funk.  She made excuses for casual touching, nothing romantic or sexual, she really wasn’t trying to get into his pants or start a relationship.  But small things that said “I’m not afraid or grossed out” and “you are fine the way you are”.  She praised his skill at darts and lightly teased him when he scratched during the pool game, treating him like she would any friend.

When the group from Xavier’s was ready to head back home, Tabby gave Kurt a big hug and her current cell phone number, just in case he got down on himself again.  It was all in all, a better end to his evening than he had expected, but he still felt unaccountably lonely.  But, he told himself, he had his friends, he had his _family_ , really, for the X-Men **were** family in all ways that matter.  And he was not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me here: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com


	5. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val and Gar see the mansion, and Val is Not Impressed. Gar sees Kurt and is Very Impressed. Kurt sees Val and is Attracted. Professor X has a headache, and may or may not be a Meddlesome Matchmaker.
> 
> No chapter specific warnings, except that the X Mansion is Incredibly Dangerous and why do people send their kids there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a few notes on Kurt's accent. I have a brain that works funny regarding words looking wrong. Mostly, Kurt will have phonetics that show his accent, but some words are just too hinky with the phonetics, so they will stay spelled correctly. Also, Kurt does not have an accent in his mind. He may use German phrases in his thoughts, but he is basically not going to have an accent as he thinks or communicates with telepaths.
> 
> Much thanks to Galahads Gurl for helping me with questions of accent.
> 
> Also, my punctuation for internal thoughts is *whatever the thought is* and for telepathic communication/eavesdropping/inadvertent loud thinking, it's **message**
> 
> Dedicated to naruturd and tamarama for comments. Comments are life, so are kudos.

Val eyed the hangar nervously.  Yes, it was a school that also hosted a super team, but why on Earth would they put the entrance to the super-secret very dangerous jet hangar in the basketball court?  What if Gar was playing on the court when a plane needed to land or take off?  It just seemed too risky.  She voiced her concerns to the visor-wearing man, Scott.

“There’s an alarm that goes off five minutes before the doors open.  Part of take-off procedures is to trigger the alarm.  And for landings, the remote we use to open the doors automatically does the same thing.”  He turned to Gar, although with his eyes covered it was hard to tell where he was really looking.  “So if you’re on the court and the alarm sounds, get off the court.  There are a few other spots on the grounds that you’ll need to avoid, but we’ll show them to you when we do the tour.”

The tour was an odd mix of showcasing the state-of-the-art facilities (which included something called a “danger room” for training mutant abilities, but Val was not wild about the name), introducing them to teachers and the students who stayed even during the summer, and the occasional dire warning tossed out with no sign that Scott or Ororo realized how bizarre it was.  “And that big rock over there is Devil’s Rock.  Please don’t go there, it’s very dangerous.  Don’t even go in the general area of it, for your own safety.”  “If you ever happen to see an open tunnel or strange hallway in the basement, don’t go near it.  We try to keep the secret passage doors closed at all times, but sometimes they get left open.”  It was bizarre, and a little worrying.

While Val was worrying about the unsafe parts of the grounds, Gar was trying to memorize all the cool stuff he saw.  He was turned away from the cluster of grown-ups talking about the teachers credentials when she spotted a guy he just _had_ to meet.  He was of medium height, and walked with a slow, bouncing stride.  Upon further inspection his feet were the likely reason, being long and having three toes.  He stood on tiptoes, really.  But the thing that caught Gar’s eye was the fact that the man was blue, like Gar was green.  He had dark blue hair that might pass for black if not for the beam of sun that landed on it from one of the tall windows, brighter blue skin.  He even had pointed ears like Gar did.  He smiled, revealing a pointed canine tooth.  Gar turned to tell his sister that there was a guy who was like him there when he heard her angry voice.

“No I will not live in town!  We told you up front that where Gar goes I do too.  I don’t care that I’m baseline, I care that I’m available to him when he needs me!”

“I understand Miss Logan, but we really don’t have non-mutants stay on the grounds.  Some of our students have gone through hel-heck, at the hands of humans.”

“You mean like the scene you found us at was a picnic?  No, I’m not dumping him in a boarding school and leaving.  You offered to take both of us, so you’re getting both of us.  I’ll pay my way, work at whatever job you need me to, but I’m staying until I know Gar is happy and safe here.  Frankly the list of warnings you gave us has me wanting to stick close.”

“Fine!” Scott threw up his hands.  “We’ll talk to the Professor about getting you a job.”

Val turned to Gar who had been holding the edge of her shirt to get her attention.  “Yes, sweetie?”

“There’s a guy like me!  He’s right over…” Gar turned to point down the hallway, then drooped as he saw it was empty.  “He’s gone.  But I swear I saw him.”

“I’m sure you did.”

“No, really, he was right there!”

“Are you two coming?”  Scott still seemed upset.  “The Professor is waiting.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kurt heard unfamiliar voices in the halls.  His pointed ears picked up subtle differences from a greater distance.  He rounded a corner and spotted a gangly boy who had green skin and hair, and ears similar to his own.  No tail, otherwise the resemblance would be uncanny.  Maybe he should have a talk with the kid later.  They didn’t get mutants without the ability to pass very often.  Mostly because the good parents didn’t want to let their kids out of their sight (like Mrs. Leech) and the bad ones tended to kick their kids out on the street where they quickly got picked up by the Morlocks or one of the other hidden enclaves.

Behind the boy was a girl, or rather a woman, but not nearly old enough to be the child’s mother.  There was enough familial resemblance in the shape of the jaw and the profile of the face that they were probably siblings.  She _was_ old enough that they would probably try to find a teaching job for her, unless she still needed college credits.  The partnership with a local university would allow a college-age student at Xavier’s to get a degree.

As he looked at her, he grinned, appreciating her fire.  Her gorgeous auburn hair was braided to the side, and she moved her hands animatedly while she was arguing with Scott about something.  He’d like to get to know her, too, he thought.  Then his sensitive ears picked up some of the words she spoke.

“I don’t care that I’m baseline, I care that I’m available to him when he needs me!”

“I understand Miss Logan, but we really don’t have non-mutants stay on the grounds.  Some of our students have gone through hel-” Scot paused, remembering there was a child nearby.  “heck, at the hands of humans.”

So, she wasn’t a mutant.  Suddenly the fantasies in Kurt’s head disappeared.  They were presumptuous anyway, to imagine asking her on a date, but even more absurd when he knew she was baseline.  He’d learned that lesson from Amanda.  His heart gave a jolting thug of jagged pain at the thought of Amanda Sefton.  No, he had just managed to cobble his broken heart back together, now was not the time to repeat past mistakes.

While the green boy was distracted by his sister’s argument, Kurt teleported back to his room.  With any luck, Scott would convince her to stay in town and he could keep his distance from the first woman in three years to attract him.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Professor Xavier, on most days, could keep his powers in check.  Part of the training his students went through was how to, for lack of a better phrase, think quietly.  It was only ethical that those with telepathy tried to stay out of others heads unless invited, and only polite that those who lived near telepaths attempted to not project their thoughts.

However, today was, as Logan would say, a bit of a cluster-fuck.  He had a very pleasant dream the night before about a woman who sometimes appeared in his dreams, a beauty with feathers for hair and the most intriguing eye make-up.  Unfortunately, all such dreams tended to leave him with a headache in the morning.  Simple analgesics did nothing, and migraine medicine (even the prescription kinds) only made him mildly nauseous.  The pain in his head weakened his control over his powers.

Another factor in controlling his abilities was stress, and after hearing about the events of Hartman Colorado he had plenty to be stressed about.  The behavior of the townsfolk was strange.  Sheriff Moonstar, an uncle of one of his former students who was now a teacher, had told him that some of the people caught in the grip of mob mentality were the last people he would have expected to riot over a mutant kid.  More than one was known for advocating for mutant rights, and another was a teacher who loved all children.  Something was afoot in the small town, only the Professor had no idea what.  He greatly disliked threats he couldn’t understand.

As a result, he had spent the day picking up every surface thought that was not carefully held in check.  His younger charges weren’t as good at thinking quietly, so most of the buzz in his brain was from the few students currently at the school.  He did know, however, the moment the Blackbird landed in the hangar, as he distinctly heard the un-dampened thoughts of two strangers.

**SWEET!  THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!!  THEY ALSO HAVE A HELICOPTER, THAT IS SOOOOOO COOL!**

** _Good Lord, do they actually have children here? This place is ridiculously dangerous.  Who the hell decided it was a good idea to…an alarm is all well and good, but it’s still foolish to put your hangar doors under a recreational facility._ **

He continued to hear their thoughts and he wished he couldn’t.  They were actually quite loud and it was grating on his nerves.  He loved new students, especially those he got from trying circumstances, because he really did delight in helping young mutants find their strengths and work on their weaknesses.  But at the same time, he hated getting them.  They were always so loud in his head, and even if it wasn’t technically him purposefully going in their minds, he still felt guilty over it.

Another aspect of the whole thing was that even veterans of the classes on telepathy ethics sometimes lost their control over the strength of their thoughts.  Kurt, for instance, got excited over a non-passing mutant and dropped his shields slightly.

**Another mutant like me!  Well, not exactly.  No tail, green not blue, no clue what his powers might be, if he has any.  He might only have a visible mutation and no special powers.  That’s always sad, when it happens.**

Then, Kurt’s shields dropped even further.

** **God, she’s beautiful.  Look at the graceful lines of her back and neck and jaw, the hair (so beautiful, want to run my fingers through it), the way her face lights up as she argues.  I wonder if it’s only fighting that makes her glow like that, or if I might be able to (mind out of the gutter, Wagner).  She’s passionate, that’s for sure.”**

A sudden mental cry of some expletive (telepathy translated it into fuckballs, but as Kurt may have been thinking in German it might have been different) and Kurt’s projections were reduced to elemental fear and sadness and panic.  The Professor would never admit he had been overhearing the thoughts of one of his best teachers, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use his inadvertent knowledge to help out a friend.  He’d have to wait though, as the newcomers were at his door.

“Come in,” he called.  Scott (looking rather frustrated), a girl with a pixyish face and auburn hair (looking stubborn), and a boy with a very visible mutation (looking curious) came into the study.

The cause of both Scott’s frustration and the girl’s, Valarie’s, stubbornness became apparent immediately.  Scott wanted her to move to town, Valarie wanted to stay with her brother, and apparently an offer had been made that she intended to hold them to.

Charles Xavier would deny it vehemently, but he was a romantic at heart, and from what he was picking up from both Kurt and Valarie told him they may have a shot at happiness.  He wasn’t above a little meddling, either.

“It seems clear that the terms of entrusting us with Garfield’s education were that his sister might stay with him.  And given certain circumstances, I believe it would be, at best, a bad idea to force him out just because his sister is baseline, and at worst, criminal negligence.”

“Professor!  We’re a school for mutants, if we let a Sapiens push her way into our safe haven, many of our students will feel anxiety or fear.”

“My goal with this school was dual purpose.  Both the education and aid of young mutants, AND the fostering of peace between Mutant and Human.”  He turned to face Valarie.  “If we don’t tell our students that you’re baseline, they may grow to trust you and care about you, and when they do discover that you aren’t a mutant they may lose some of their fear of baseline humans.”

“So I can stay?”  Her face was painfully hopeful and her mind was a repetitive refrain of please.

“Yes, you may stay.  If you have yet to finish college and would like to, we have a program through the local university.”

“Do.…”  She hesitated, biting her lip.  **god, I could…**  “Is the tuition very much?  And what’s the tuition for Gar?”

“For our younger students who are taught in-house, we have a bit of a sliding scale based on need and economic status.  From what I know of your situation, I believe Garfield’s education should be no-cost.  As for your education, should you choose it, we sometimes offset costs with work-study.  Should you choose to give your time to our younger students, the Academy will pay half to all of your on-going education expenses, depending on what tasks you take on.”

“I’m not sure what jobs I’m qualified for, sir.”

“If you wouldn’t mind, I can scan your mind for possible skills we have use for.  Only if you are alright with that, of course.”

“Sure.  It, it won’t hurt, will it?”

“Not at all.”  Xavier rolled up to her and reached up to place his fingers on her temples.  Images raced past him and his heart went out to her.  No child should have to be a parent so young, and essentially, that was what she had been at age ten.  Understandably, she had a rather different skill set than most twenty one year olds.  She was a gifted teacher, having taught her brother from the time he was five.  She had a talent for making learning into a game, and for acting out stories to help the knowledge sink in.  He saw a theater class, a bright point in an otherwise dim part of her history.  He also saw the signs of hastily denied regret around a school play.  Of course she would not have had time to devote to that, but perhaps now….  He pulled back.

“We don’t currently have a drama teacher on staff.  I think you’d be very good at that and it’s always good to add electives to the course roster.  If you take on the responsibility of teaching a theater class I believe we could pay for your college tuition.”

“I…a whole class?  Are you sure?”

“Just one class a day, not multiple classes, so you still can do your own studying.  It would need to be all ages, but we don’t really get any children younger than twelve, so you won’t be chasing after toddlers.  There’s another teacher here who has some experience in show business, and he might be available to help you occasionally.  But, yes, I’m sure that would work, if you want to take advantage of the work study program.”

“You can do it, Val.”  Garfield’s mental voice echoed the statement, only louder.  If all the students who took her class turned out as good as her brother, it would be worth paying for a full ride to the university.

“Sure.  Yeah.  Ok, I’ll do it.”

“Wonderful.  Now, if you would like, Scot can show you to your rooms.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**Kurt, would you please see me in my office?**

Kurt pulled himself off the bed where he had collapsed after fleeing the pretty girl.  *Dear Gott im Himmel can I get more pathetic?*  Taking a deep breath, he mentally replied to the Professor.  **On my way, Professor.**

He teleported to the door of the Professor’s office.  It was rude to teleport into the office itself, but the less he was in the halls, the less chance of running into _her_.  Maybe he was cowardly, but he could always say he was just practicing teleporting to places he couldn’t see, so no one would ever know.  He knocked and received a call to come in.

“Kurt, I know you’ve got your hands full with teaching, but I was hoping you might take on a special assignment.  You’re the best person to do it, and to be honest, it is of vital importance.”

“Of course Professor.  Vhat do hyu need?”

“We have a new student, who’s primary mutation is physical, as yours is.  He has had troubles with being accepted and from what I saw with Cerebro, may be in a delicate place right now due to the way his neighbors reacted to him.”

“I think I saw him in the hallway earlier.  Hyu want me to mentor him?”

“Yes, that would be a good idea I think.  It doesn’t need to be an official position, in fact it would be better if it happened organically, but if you could put yourself in the same area as him occasionally, I think that he would appreciate having you as a friend.”

“Sure, I can do that….  Err, about his sister….”

“A lovely young lady, and I think she’ll make a fine addition to our teaching staff.  I offered her a work-study scholarship, a theater class.  If you have time, you might offer to share your experiences as a child in the circus with her students.”

“So, she is staying?”

“Yes.  Her devotion to her brother is such that separating them at this juncture would not have been possible or advisable to even try.  But also, it is a sign that she’s highly unlikely to be a bigot.”

“I…see.  Was that all, Professor?”

“Yes, Kurt.  Thank you for your time.”

As Kurt left the office, Professor Xavier smiled.  He’d have to work on Kurt’s fear, but asking him to bond with Garfield was a good first step.  After his look at Valarie’s mind he was even surer that she and Kurt would go well together, they were very compatible.  And now, his duties for the day were mostly dealt with or delegated, so he was going to take a nap and see if that stopped the pounding in his skull.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me here: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com
> 
> So, as you can see, Kurt is a bit of a silly, but he has reasons. Also, Val kinda represses any emotions that she perceives as not beneficial to Gar. She's kinda screwed up. Honestly, Gar may be the only non-damaged one out of all of them, which, given his homelife as a child, that's kinda sad. I'm probably going to go into more detail of the fucked-up-ness of Kurt and Val, so if you need warnings for any specific kind of emotional damage, tell me, I will add it to the "list of shit I warn for".


	6. There is no Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val plans for her class, Gar gets used to the mansion and meets people, and Kurt is still being silly. But also trying to be a good role model for Gar.
> 
> This is the chapter that refused to be named, so I pulled a riff on Monty Python. Sorry, not sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to naruturd for beta-ing this. Sorry it took so long to post it, I've been sick.
> 
> Dedicated to naruturd and tamarama for commenting. Feedback is mana of the heavens.

Val had no clue how to even begin planning a class.  Mainly with Gar she just got him the books and sometimes made up stories to help the information stick.  And songs, she did do songs for him to help him learn things like the state capitals and the years various wars went down.  She finally gave up on coming up with something of her own and decided to copy Ms. Thorne’s style of improvisation games.

She made a list of the games that were the most fun, and the ones that helped with memorization of lines.  She refreshed her memory of how the games were played, and tried to remember what each one taught (some were movement games, some were word games, some were character building games).  She thought about a play.  Should she pick one now, or should she wait until the class had started and she knew her students better?

Val was so buried in her work that when she looked at the clock and realized it was past lunchtime and she hadn’t seen Gar.  She wasn’t worried that he would have missed eating, but knowing Gar he might have just eaten a tub of ice cream instead of a healthy meal.  Her mind raced as she combed the halls of the school looking for him. *Am I a bad caretaker?  He’s thirteen, so he should be old enough I don’t have to panic over not having him beside me all the time, but he is a bit reckless…*

She heard Gar’s laughter, high and bright, and followed the sound.  She rounded a corner and went through a screen door.  Momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight she felt Gar body slam her side in a hug.  He was getting big enough that the impact rocked her off her feet for a second.  Man, was he growing fast.

“Val!  The guy like me, his name’s Kurt, and he’s from Germany and he used to be in the circus!  Come meet him!”  Gar dragged her by the hand, then stopped on the patio.  He whirled in circles and his face scrunched in confusion.  “He was right here…”

“I believe you.  Now what did you have for lunch?”

“Mr. Drake made curry.  It had lots of veggies and tofu and some almonds in it.  Did _you_ eat?  You know what Auntie May would say if you start skipping meals.”

“Well, I’m sure there’s something in the fridge.  They did say it was communal.  Come help me find something?”

“Sure.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Earlier that day, Gar had gone wandering.  He was careful to follow the rules he’d been told about where not to go, but there were still plenty of things he could do.  He assessed the video game stash in the rec room with a critical eye and no small amount of glee.  But games required being able to sit still, and just now he didn’t want to.

He was in the kitchen pondering if he could reach the peanut butter that some unkind soul had placed on the top shelf of the pantry when an adult came in, forestalling the obvious animal change to reach the jar.  The man was tall and blonde, and smiled at Gar.

“Hey you’re the new recruit, huh?  Bobby Drake, Iceman.”  He stuck out a hand, which Gar shook politely.  “Kurt was looking for you earlier.  I think he’s in the library right now.  Would you mind going to tell him I’m making curry as per the pool bet?”

“Um.  Ok.  What kind of curry?”

“Tofu, mixed veggie, and almonds, over rice.  I’m making an epic quantity if you want some.”

“Yeah, sure.  You said he was in the library?  What does he look like?”

“He kinda looks a little like you.”

“Really?  Him?  I saw him!”

“Cool.  Now, go tell him I honor my end of the bet, so he better actually come to lunch.”

Gar ran off to the library.  It was a huge room with wooden shelves across every wall holding a ton of books.  Gar couldn’t even wait to start reading them, but sadly, reading, like video games, required sitting still.  It even smelled like books.  Momentarily, he let himself be distracted as he sucked in a lungful of book air.  Then, he straightened up and started looking for the guy.  Kurt.

He found Kurt in the window seat that looked out over the rear garden.  He had one foot tucked up under him and the other hanging off the bench as he stared out the window.

“Hey.”

“Vas?  Oh, hi.  I was looking for hyu earlier.  I’m Kurt, and if you need anything let me know.”

“Sure.  Um, I’m Gar.”  They shook hands and then Gar’s mouth seemed to open of its own accord.  “What’s your accent?  I mean, it’s kinda funny, not that funny is bad, just it’s kind of….”

“I’m German.  I vas raised by a Bavarian circus, so the accent isn’t quite what hyu would hear in any one place.  The dialects all run together vhen hyu move as much as a circus does.”

“You lived in an actual _circus_?  That is majorly cool.  I used to live at a commune.  Well, technically it was an intentional community, but that’s basically a commune.”  Gar paused, remembering his original reason for being there.  “But, Mr. Drake said to come tell you he’s making curry.  He said he’s holding up his end so you need to come eat.”

“Hyu mean he’s not viggling out of the bet?  That’s not like him.  But his curry is delicious, so ve might as vell go get some.”

The curry _was_ good, and the heavenly smell carried enough that even those not specifically summoned to eat showed up, some blatant (“Smells good, Icecube,” said Logan “Can I have some?”) others round about and pretending to be in the kitchen for other reasons (“For Christ’s sake, Amara, you know I’m going to feed you, you don’t need to pretend you’re really here for tea.”).  There were enough people wanting some that by the time it was ready to serve they all had to move to the dining hall, rather than eat at the smaller kitchen table.

After lunch, Kurt suggested that they go outside.  Most everyone was slipping into the food-coma that comes from eating large amounts of rich food, so it was really only Kurt, Amara, and Gar.  Kurt and Gar sat on the patio nearest the kitchen door, talking about video games and books and what the students were like.  Amara poked around some of the plantings around the patio.  Ororo had been teaching her how to garden, and whenever there was a spare moment, Amara liked to check for weeds.

Eventually, Amara wandered off to do other things and Kurt steered the conversation to how it was to grow up with a physical mutation.  He wanted to know exactly how badly the outside world had fucked up this exuberant boy.  The response wasn’t what he expected.

“Yeah it kinda sucked that Mark and Marie didn’t let me out of the second floor of the house, but Val totally made up for it.  She gave me her laptop to use so that I could have friends online, even if I couldn’t have friends in person.  And she always told me I was special and smart and a good person, so I never felt like I was bad, even if Marie called me “thing” or “creature” more often than “Gar”.  And when she turned eighteen, it was only like two weeks later she took me and we left that place behind.”

“Und vhen hyu lived in Colorado?”

“Oh, that place was great.  Everybody was really nice, and helped me figure out how animal bodies work so that I could do transformations easier.  And getting to run around outside was great.  I like moving, and not being cooped up was super great.”

“But hyu, I vas under the impression that hyu left under…not the best circumstances.”

“Understatement of the century.  Yeah, that wasn’t…that was not on my list of happy things.  But even though it was scary, I trusted Val to find a way out, and I trusted Glynn and Astrid and Tobey and Jeffery and May and Hazel and everybody else to give us the time Val needed to find a solution.”  He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt.  “And I’ve done some reading about how people function in mobs.  Kind of half morbid curiosity and half know-your-enemy, you know?  People in a group are like, so much stupider than people individually.  And all it takes is one person with a carrying voice and a halfway decent rhetoric to get a large group doing something dumb.  It’s not really those people’s fault for being there, they were nuts at the time.  It was really only the fault of that one guy who was a jerk.”

“That’s…really vell adjusted.  I never felt half that forgiving to the people who chased me from my home because of vhat I looked like.”

“Well, obviously I’m mad they couldn’t keep their head’s out of their butts long enough to back out of the mob before it gained momentum, and what they were saying was not nice, and they should know better.  It is possible to not become a sheep.  Val’s boss Evan didn’t.  So they should take some of the blame, just not all of it.”

“I’m surprised hyu aren’t blaming hyurself.  Vhen the townsfolk came to our camp and set fire to one of the vardos to get my family to tell vhere I vas, I blamed myself.  I got a summer job the first chance I got and sent back the money to pay for Jalane’s vardo, because if it veren’t for me... It took a long time to accept it vasn’t my fault.”

“Val started me on psychology lessons at nine, so that I would know how people on the outside thought and stuff.  And she’d give me the disappointed look or even cry if I thought for a moment that another person’s hurtful actions were my fault.  But then, she’s the bestest sister in the whole world, so it’s not surprising.”

“She sounds like a wonderful person.  Hyu’re lucky to have her.”  He meant it.  If Kurt had had someone who taught him that his form wasn’t to be feared, that his body was not the cause of hate, but rather the focus of it, maybe he would be less terrified to go out without a large group of friends.  But the purpose of his original probing of this topic seemed pointless, so he changed the subject and soon they were laughing together.

The kitchen door slammed open and Valarie’s form was silhouetted in the doorway, one arm upraised against the sun.  Gar ran to hug her, and Kurt quickly bamf-ed back to his room.  He cursed his fear, and resolved to talk to her soon.  It was a welcome relief from self-castigation when he got the telepathic message that he was needed for a mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me here: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com


	7. School Starts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gar gets a crush, Val gets a new job and they both get upset by Kurt's disappearing act.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And sheeeeee's baaaaack!
> 
> I could not have gotten back on this without the help of many of my friends (like really, the outpouring of support was amazing) especially naruturd, tamarama and quadrad.
> 
> This is for them, and for RikaDivani for commenting.

A few weeks later, students started arriving.  Within a few days the ratio of adults to kids dropped sharply.  By the end of the week the noise level in the halls was almost overwhelming to Gar, who had never gone to a public school.  In self-defense he retreated to the library, where he met another student who disliked noise.  By the end of the day he had developed a crush, despite not having much information about her.  He knew her name (it was Raven and he thought that was awesome) and that she didn’t go in for light reading, instead picking the biggest books in the whole place, and that she had telekinesis, but not much else.

Meanwhile, Val was stressing over her class that started next Monday. Only a weekend later, she would be thrown headfirst into a career she never thought would be open to her.  She obsessed over getting her classroom just so (beanbag chairs for the students so that they could clear them easily for games that needed space, but a desk for her, to balance the line between fun and authority) and prepping supplies (a big box of random junk for props and another just for hats and jackets as makeshift costumes).  She did take time to visit with Gar, to make sure he was holding up ok.  She was worried that he seemed to have an imaginary friend.  This “Kurt” who was supposedly very cool yet always invisible when Gar tried to introduce them.  Gar was a touch old to have an imaginary friend, but honestly, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him to give Kurt up.

Finally the day came.  The first day of classes.  Val made sure Gar knew where all his classrooms were and what order he was taking them, then, with a mixture of regret and happiness and fond memories of Gar as a small child that seemed like only yesterday, she let him walk into the dining room for breakfast on his own.  It had been a battle, but he had convinced her to let him do this himself, to limit her involvement during the day to what any teacher would do.  She waited a minute, then went in herself and found a seat.  Her class was during second period, so after breakfast she had an hour to get prepared.  An hour was both not enough and too much time.  Not enough to actually change anything, but too much to keep her nerves in check.

As her students started filing in, the nerves increased.  Some were noisy and some were quiet, and her mind started sorting them (the muscular boy who looked nervous about being in a drama class, the shy girl, the clown, and over there the pseudo-jaded artiste who would likely try to take over the class).  Val drew on her observations of Ms. Thorne’s handling of similar cases to inform her own choices.  When all her students had taken seats in the beanbag chairs, Val opened her roster and cleared her throat.

“All right everyone, Why don’t we go around and introduce ourselves?  Say your name, so I can mark your attendance, and one fun thing about yourself.”

“Kendrick O’Donnal,” a tall skinny teen with medium brown skin and a shaved head.  “And I can absorb energy blasts and re-emit the power as lightning.”

“Sarah Smith.”  The girl who spoke was wearing thick black rimmed glasses and an oversized sweater.  Her voice trembled as she spoke.  “I can control the ambient temperature of any room I’m in.”

“Doug Ramsey,” a tall blonde boy spoke up, almost cutting off Sarah, but the girl looked thankful that she wouldn’t have to talk more.  “ I’m a linguopath.”

 “Giovanna, please call me G.”  This girl had flame-red hair, black lipstick contrasting with pale skin and multiple piercings.  “I can hover about five feet in the air.”

“Johnny Steingard.”  He also had red hair, but it was more carroty and curly, and he had a profusion of freckles and the air of a class clown.  “I can make illusions.”

“I’m Jubilee, and I can create fireworks.”

“We’re Celeste, Mindee, Sophie and Phoebe,” chorused four identical blondes.  “We have a telepathic super-mind.”

“That is super creepy.  But, you know, that’s not totally a bad thing,” sounded a voice from an empty bean bag chair.  “Sam Carter.  I’m invisible, mostly.”

The girl sitting next to the seemingly-empty chair fist-bumped the air.  “I’m Melinda Carter.  I can’t be tricked by mind-control or invisibility.  Before you ask, Sammy’s my brother.”

“I’m Quentin…but I’d really prefer you call me Quin.  I’m an Omega-level telepath.”

“And I’m Prime.”  The muscular boy was squaring his shoulders and sticking out an impressively square jaw, but the clear pantomime of the whole thing was slightly ridiculous, leaving Val with a desire to laugh that she quickly buried.

“Your name is _not_ Prime,” exclaimed Johnny.  “No way you could be named Prime.”

“I don’t use the name the stupid Sapiens gave me.  I’m going to be an X-man one day, so I’m starting with my new name now.”

“That is the most….”

“Boys!” Val barked.  “Please be civil to each other while in my classroom.  What’s one interesting thing about you, Prime?”

“I have super strength and stamina.”  Then he winked and Val almost lost her calm veneer.  Imagine a teenager hitting on her!

“Okay, then.  I’m Valarie Logan.  No, I am not related to Logan the PE teacher.  You can call me Miss Logan or Miss Val.  I thought we could start the year off with a few games…”

“What’s your power?” chorused Celeste, Mindee and Pheobe.

“Yeah, do you have a good one or is it kinda lame?” G shot a look at Sarah, who ducked her head like she was trying to hide in her sweater.

"I have the power to either pass or fail you in this class as well as the ability to assign detention," Val replied.  She thought if she didn’t nip it in the bud, G could easily become a bully to the shyer girl.  “And for the record, no-one in my class is allowed to call anyone’s power ‘lame’ or any variation or synonym thereof.  I don’t have many rules.  You can bring drinks or snacks, you can doodle during lectures; I don’t mind.  But you will be respectful of each other or you will answer to me.”  She gave them her best stern glare.  “Any questions?”  Prime raised his hand and Val nodded her permission to him.

“Are you single?”

Val could feel the heat rising in her face.  Her ears burned with the blush that was surely turning her face beet red.  She was not expecting that.  “That’s a highly inappropriate question, Prime.  Whether or not I have a love life is not something I should be discussing with students.  Does anyone have any class-relevant questions?”

“H-how are we graded?”

“Good question, Sarah.  This isn’t a class with a lot of test material, so there will only be four quizzes, they count for a quarter of your grade.  Another quarter is homework, but class participation is the biggest part of your grade, based off attendance and willingness to contribute to discussions and exercises, and will make up half your grade.”

“Are we going to do a play or something?” Doug asked.

“Yes, and part of the homework will be reading a selection of plays and voting on which one we’ll do.”

“There aren’t really enough of us to do a whole play are there?”

“The plays on the list can easily be performed with only minimal recruitments from outside this class.  Anymore questions?  No?  Ok, the first thing I was thinking we’d do is a warm-up game called Honey if You Love Me.  We stand in a circle, go ahead and toss the bean bag chairs to the outside edges.  Now the person who is it is in the middle of the circle and their goal is to get someone to laugh, but they can only approach them and say the words “Honey if you love me, won’t you please, please smile.”  The goal of those of us on the outside is to respond “Honey I love you but I just can’t smile” without smiling or laughing.”

“Can I be it first?” asked Johnny

“Of course.”

So began Valarie Logan’s teaching career.  Over the next two weeks her students grew to think of her as the coolest teacher they had, which was saying something, because Mr. Drake hosted video game parties.  She still made time for Gar, after is classes were over for the day, but he was making friends and didn’t rely solely on her for human contact anymore.  The only thing that worried her was that he still seemed to have the new imaginary friend, Kurt.  Things came to a head one Saturday after Gar tried yet again to introduce her to the guy.

“Gar, honey, you know you don’t have to make up a visible mutant friend, right?”

“What?  I’m not making him up, he just always disappears before I can introduce you!  He’s real!”

“Sweetie…”

“Don’t ‘sweetie’ me.  Kurt’s real and I’ll prove it!” he yelled as he turned into a bird and flew down the hall faster than Val could catch him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me here: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com 
> 
>  
> 
> Also, if all goes according to plan Val and Kurt will meet if not next chapter, then the chapter after that. They will at least talk before chapter 10, I swear it.


	8. Plots and Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gar enlists help from Bobby and Rogue, and Val finally meets Kurt

Gar flew straight to Mr. Drake’s classroom.  Mr. Drake was a good friend of Kurt’s, maybe he would know why the blue mutant always went missing when Gar tried to introduce him to Val.  His mind raced, he never expected  _Val_ of all people to doubt him.  When he changed back into a boy in Mr. Drake’s classroom he was tearing up, despite all efforts to keep his composure.  He quickly dashed the tears from his eyes and tried to explain the problem, but he was still so emotional that his communication skills were not the best.

Rogue was walking down the hallway, heading towards the common areas, when she heard high-speed (so much so it was almost incoherent) babbling coming from Bobby’s classroom.  The voice was young sounding and very distressed, so she ducked her head in to see if Bobby needed help.  He may have the rep of cool teacher, but he still didn’t handle emotional kids well.

“She doesn’t think he’s real!  That I made him up or something and it’s the first time she’s ever done something like that, and I can’t, I just can’t.  And he’s not making it any easier by doing a Houdini every time she comes near.”  Suddenly, out of frustration, Gar turned into a cat and went to sit on Bobby’s desk.

“Lemme guess,” Rogue said, “mah idiot brother’s been bein’ even more of an idiot than he is normally, and it’s caused a fight.”

“That’s what I got out of it.  I think he’s avoiding Miss Logan because she’s baseline.  And kinda cute.  And we both know about his _thing_ about attractive baseline women.  I mean, it comes from a reasonable place but it makes him act really dumb.  Not everybody is an Amanda.”

“So we don’ give him a chance to teleport out.  Ah’ll hold his attention, you bring Miss Logan ‘round to his classroom and presto, she’s seen him and he has no excuses.  We let them talk and sort out the shi--” Rouge paused as she remembered that the green cat in the room was actually a student who could hear her.  “The silly ideas he may have about her.”

It took very little effort to get Kurt into a conversation, because he always treasured it when Rogue took the time to act sisterly, and Rogue making sure to sit on his desk facing the door guaranteed that Kurt was facing away from it when Valarie walked in.  Getting Val to go with Bobby was harder, mainly because she was distraught over Gar’s sudden absence and was consumed with a need to find her brother.

“I can’t go meet the freaking German teacher right now, Bobby, Gar’s run off!  I have to find him.”

“He’s a smart kid and he knows what’s dangerous, he’ll be fine,” Bobby said as he took her arm and started bodily directing her to the correct classroom.

“Don’t you _dare_ brush off my brother’s well-being like that Bobby Drake, or I swear I’m gonna…”  Bobby was starting to worry that Kurt would hear them coming and bamf away, which just could not happen, so he offered up something to soothe her and at least take the volume down.

“Look, Gar asked me to introduce the two of you, and he’s fine, if a bit sulky.  He’s in my classroom right now.  Last I saw he was a cat in a patch of sun on my desk.  He’s _fine_ , but he wanted you to meet Mr. Wagner, because that might help you understand what he’s been going through.”

“Gar’s not taking German, why would a German teacher know why he suddenly has an imaginary….” She trailed off as Bobby shoved her into a classroom and she was presented with the sight of a man with digitigrade feet and a tail with a spaded tip, and he was most certainly the most handsome shade of deep royal blue, exactly as Gar had described him.  Unless she was sharing a hallucination or an illusionist was having a joke at her expense, Gar’s imaginary friend wasn’t so imaginary after all.

“Well, shit,” she said.  When the man who had to be Kurt turned, Rogue grabbed his arm.

“Yah ain’t going anywhere till yah sort this out.  Y’all made one of my favorite students so upset he’s a cat right now, so deal with your issues.  Starting with proper introductions.  Kurt, this is Miss Logan, our theater teacher.  Val, this here’s my idiot brother, Kurt.  Now talk.  Ah’m trusting you not to bamf out of here the moment I leave, do _not_ disappoint me.”  With a pointed glare she released Kurt’s arm and left the room.

“So, you’re the guy my brother’s been raving about.  I want to like you because he does, but at the same time, you’re the guy who kept disappearing, leading me to accuse my brother of having an imaginary friend at age 13, which apparently made him so upset he is now a cat in a math class.  I don’t like making snap judgments, so I’m going to ask you why.”

“Vhy vhat?” he said innocently.  And ohh, that accent did things in Val’s belly that she should not be feeling about the asshole that made her hurt her brother.

“Why did you keep disappearing every time he tried to introduce us?  Would it have killed you to say hello?”

“Because I vas frightened.  I saw hyu in the hall hyur first day and I heard vhat hyu said about not being… and I was scared.”

“You had no reason to be scared, the whole argument you witnessed was about me wanting to be near my visible-mutant brother, it isn’t like I was going to point and scream or try to hit you.”

“No, I vas not scared of that, I vas scared of…something else altogether.  For someone so blue I can be very yellow at times.”  He smiled, and her anger softened, although she tried to keep herself from smiling back.  She was still angry, dammit!  “But now that ve have met, may I say hyu have done a very good job raising Gar.  He is much better adjusted than one vould expect for his circumstances.”

“I do my best, Mr…. I’m sorry, what was your last name again?”

“Vagner, but hyu really can call me Kurt.”  He offered a hand and Val took it, not expecting the light kiss that brushed over her knuckles, sending a thrill of... something…down her spine.  “It vas lovely meeting hyu, Miss Logan.”

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Thoroughly disoriented from that meeting and the rollercoaster of feelings that accompanied it, Val sought out Bobby Drake’s classroom.  As promised, he was in feline form, curled up in a sunny spot on Bobby’s desk.

“Gar?  Sweetheart, can you be a kid again?  We need to talk.”  An annoyed huff from the cat told her that Gar wasn’t in a talking mood.  “I need to apologize.  I should have taken your word for it that Kurt was real, and I’m sorry I didn’t.  It shouldn’t have taken intervention and meeting him for me to believe you, and I’m sorry that it did.  But I’ve met him now and I know I’ve messed up, and it’d be really nice if you could acknowledge the apology even if you can’t accept it yet.”

Gar morphed smoothly into his normal form, hopping off the desk as he did so.  “I’m still mad at you, and at Kurt for always disappearing, but you did say sorry and that’s important.  I’m probably going to stay mad for a while, though.”

“And that’s okay, I screwed up big time and it’s okay to still be mad.  As long as you know I care about you and I’m sorry I hurt you, you can be mad at me as long as you need to be.”

“Even though I’m mad I still love you Val.  You’re the best big sister out there even if you do mess up.”

“Does that mean I can get a hug?”  She held her arms open to him, a pleading look on her face.  This wasn’t her first fight with Gar but it was the first to have him this mad at her, and she was worried that she’d damaged their relationship beyond easy repair.  She watched the emotions cascade across his features until they settled on a tentative smile.

“Yeah, you can get a hug,” he said as he embraced her, cuddling into her shoulder.  “Just trust me next time, okay?”

“I promise, next time I’ll trust you.”


	9. Concern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life goes on, Gar makes friends, and Kurt overhears something he's not to happy about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to naruturd and tamarama for comments and to Sapphirekayak, WittyRejoinder, and WittyWritter96, who I may or may not have forgotten to thank for kudos. Feedback is Muse Chow, and nobody likes a hungry Muse.

Life progressed normally, or as normal as you can get in a school for mutant kids.  Val taught, and took online classes offered from the local university, and took time to spend with Gar.  Now that the specter of an imaginary friend was gone, her worries for Gar’s well-being were lessened.  Although she had mixed feelings about Kurt (she still hadn’t forgiven him for gas-lighting Gar), she understood that he was an important figure in Gar’s life, and as such she tried to welcome him into her life too.  It was difficult sometimes, when her skin felt hot and sensitive whenever they touched, but she tamped down those feelings and tried to focus on taking care of Gar.  That was, after-all, the whole reason she was in this school to begin with.

The last days of summer faded into fall and Val’s class started reading plays.  From the sheer amount of groaning during in-class readings of No Exit, Val struck all the existentialist plays from her list.  It was a shame, because the existentialists all used small cast sizes that her class could cover without recruiting outsiders.  Her worry was that in-cast rivalry would make putting on a play less fun, but even with just the kids in her class, there would be tension.  G was still dismissive of Sarah and Johnny and Prime had a clear enmity that nothing she had tried could affect, and she still had no idea where the fire that fueled it came from.  The quadruplets had quickly started being referred to in a group as the “Stepford Cuckoos” despite Val trying to quash the name-calling.  At one point one of them had taken her aside and explained that they pretty much shared a mind and being identical it was easier if they had a designation for themselves as a group, so they truly didn’t care.  Val didn't like it, but as the girls in question welcomed it, she let the whole thing slide.

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With his sister occupied with other things than him, Gar was experiencing a whole new level of independence.  He became sort-of friends with Roberto, an older student, and better friends with John, a kid more his age.  He continued to crush mightily on Raven, but other students had crushes of their own.

“She’s sooo pretty, and she doesn’t mind my power at all,” sighed a boy Gar’s age who went by Leech.  He wasn’t very popular because his presence neutralized mutant powers in a small radius around him.  It felt weird and aside from learning his original hair color, Gar hadn’t really liked it.  Most mutants were in agreement, so Leech had few friends, but occasionally he got into conversations with other kids as long as he stayed far enough away that he didn’t shut down their powers.  He was talking to what seemed like an empty chair (that would be Sam Carter, the invisible sophomore) and Roberto.  Roberto waved Gar and John over.

 “Who are we talking about?”

“Miss Logan, the theater teacher.  I’m going to take theater next year, just because of her.  God she’s sooo hot.”

“Ewww, I need brain bleach,” Gar protested.

“Dude, are you into women _at all_?  Miss Logan is smoking hot,” asserted the empty chair.  “And she crushed Mr. Drake at Mario Kart last time he had a game tourney.  I wanna marry her.”

“Rumor has it she doesn’t date though,” said Roberto.  “I hear she’s never dated anybody, _ever_.  Totally, full on  Never Been Kissed-style does not date.  Which is weird because she is definitely like at least an eight, if not a nine."

“God, just stop talking, yuck.  That’s my _sister_ , she is not hot, or smoking, or any other kind of anything you might be thinking!”

“Really?  Then maybe you can settle a betting pool I may have going.  What’s her power?”

“What?”

“What is her mutant super power?  She won’t tell us, and everybody is super curious about it, well, except the Cuckoos, they have telepathy, but they won’t use it on a teacher, so they can’t be that curious.  Whenever we ask she tells us her power is that she gives out grades or that she can hand out detention.”

“OK, if my sister has decided you don’t need to know, then you don’t need to know and I’m not telling you.  And if you took up bets on it then you don’t deserve her.  She deserves somebody nice, and cool, and closer to her own age.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kurt was on his way out to the gardens to help Ororo move some planters when he overheard Gar squealing in disgust.

“Ewww, I need brain bleach!”

Curious what his young friend was disgusted by, he listened in to the conversation.

“Dude, are you into women _at all_?  Miss Logan is smoking hot, _and_ she crushed Mr. Drake at Mario Kart last time he had a game tourney.  I wanna marry her.”  Kurt sympathized with the smitten student, it had been a glorious game to watch, and the look of triumph had only made Valarie’s inner light shine more brightly.

“Rumor has it she doesn’t date though,” said Roberto de Costa.  Kurt recognized his voice from the previous year when he’d had the boy in his class.  “I hear she’s never dated anybody, _ever_.  Totally, full on  Never Been Kissed-style does not date."

Ever?  That couldn’t be right.  She was far too pretty to have never gone on a date before.  A fräulein like that could have any man she wished.  Maybe she didn’t want to date?  He’d best not press her, even now that she was slightly more comfortable around him.  He didn’t want her thinking his only reason for being friends was an ulterior motive, especially if she wasn’t inclined that way.  He was about to walk away when the discussion turned to Miss Logan’s powers, and he felt himself drawn back in.

“Whenever we ask she tells us her power is that she gives out grades or that she can hand out detention.”

Well that was accurate, at least.  He wondered for a moment if being a baseline human in a school for mutants was anything like being a closeted mutant out in the world.  The lengths she went to just to keep her status secret must be extreme, considering she had some of the strongest telepaths in the school in her class.

“OK, if my sister has decided you don’t need to know, then you don’t need to know and I’m not telling you.  And if you took up bets on it then you don’t deserve her.  She deserves somebody nice, and cool, and closer to her own age.”

Kurt agreed whole heartedly with Gar’s assessment.  He wished he knew who the student who’d taken bets was, that was a serious breach of school policy.  Maybe he’d ask the Professor to casually scan for a betting pool regarding Miss Logan.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

“Professor?” Kurt poked his head around the doorframe to the study.  “May I haff a minute?”

“Of course, Kurt, come in.”

“I vanted to speak to hyu about something I overheard,” Kurt shifted nervously, as though talking about Valarie might summon her.  *Get a grip, Wagner.* “A student has been running a betting pool regarding Miss Logan’s powers.  I vas unable to identify the student, unfortunately.  Seeing as Miss Logan does not haff powers, I think this might be a more dangerous thing than just a breach of policy.  And may,” he paused to gather his thoughts, “warrant a low level scan of the school to find those involved.”

“The intent all along was for the students to find out that Miss Logan is baseline.  Why do you thing I assigned five telepaths to her class?  The Frost girls are quite adept and of the students, none can match young mister Quire for power.  They’re polite enough to stay out of her head long enough for the student body to form a bond with her, and once the temptation is too great or her defenses slip, you can be sure that her students will know.  My hope is that they will see this as proof that integration is possible.”

“Professor, that is rather Machiavellian of hyu, using her as a pawn like that, und risking her safety.  The Quire boy is not quite right, hyu know?  He might try to hurt her; he tried before to use his powers on Sophie, but her sisters stopped it.  Valarie doesn’t haff that kind of protection.”

“Rest assured, I am monitoring Quentin Quire, and have been since the incident last year.  If I need to I can call on every telepath in the school, including Jean, to shut down an attack.  But if you feel Miss Logan needs protecting, may I suggest you might be the best suited?  You already have a strong friendship with her brother, and you two might be more compatible than you think.”

“I might haff to, if hyu’re going to be like this.  I look up to hyu, Professor, but there are lines und hyu are dangerously close to them.”


	10. Infatuation and Infection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val and Kurt deal (poorly) with their growing feelings, the Cuckoos have a plan and a bout of flu sweeps through the school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to tamarama and Naruturd for comments.
> 
> My apologies if this chapter seems rushed, but I have my reasons.

True to his word, Kurt tried to spend more time with Valarie.  It helped that she and Gar were a package deal and he already had a strong friendship with the boy.  He also found that it was difficult to control his reactions to Val.  A casual brush of their shoulders could bring a rush of heat to his cheeks, an accidental touch of her hand when passing food at dinner had him very grateful for the table being wood, not glass.  She seemed not to notice, but Kurt was rapidly realizing his feelings were growing beyond physical attraction.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Val knew that Kurt was trying to make up for his avoidance of her, it wasn’t anything serious, but she kept finding excuses to brush against him.  It was ridiculous, she knew.  As if a well-respected teacher would have an interest in a work-study student without even a GED.  Preposterous.  Still it was nice to let her hand linger on his, to feel the soft fuzz on his hand as she passed a tray.  His hands were warm, and she couldn’t help but wonder what they’d be like if he were to touch her somewhere other than her hands.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

“Miss Logan?” chorused four different, yet eerily similar voices.

Val looked up from her homework.  The light in her bedroom was terrible, so she did her homework at her desk in the classroom.  Technically she was off duty, teaching wise, but she made a point to always have time for her students.  The Stepford Cuckoos were standing in front of the desk.

“Yes girls?”

“We were wondering about something,” one of them said.  “How do you pick a guy to go out with?”

“Girls, this really is not something I can help you with.  I am not what you’d call a reliable source.

“We know you haven’t dated, but if you were going to, how would you pick?”

“Actually I did go on a few dates in high school, but they didn’t end well.  So I guess I’d have to pick somebody who treated my loved ones with the respect they deserve.  And someone smart, smart is good, especially for you girls, because you would have to be ok with their mind as well as what comes out their mouth.  Funny is also good, for similar reasons.”

“And looks?”

“Looks don’t matter.  Not one bit.”

“Thanks Miss Logan!” four identical hands waved goodbye.

*Well I wonder what that was about,* she thought, turning back to a free body diagram.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**Shhh, he’s almost here**

**Everybody ready?*

**Well, duh, we’ve been planning this ever since we saw that…**

**SHHH!**

Kurt was passing the door to the kitchen when he heard the tell-tale giggle that came from girls doing something they shouldn’t.  He turned into the kitchen to see the Frost girls leaning over a notebook.

“Vhat’s so funny?”

“Sam Carter left his notebook in class.”

“Shh, Mindee, you’ll get us in trouble.”

“If the notebook belongs to someone else, then hyu had best return it.  I don’t vant to find out hyu still haff it tomorrow.”

“Yes Mr Wagner,” the girls chorused, eerie in the severe unison between them.

They grabbed the book and ran off, leaving behind a single sheet with what looked like betting numbers.  So that was one mystery solved.  From what he could tell it was a bet about whether or not Miss Logan had a crush on anyone at the school.  He was surprised to see the odds in his favor.

Still, it was just childish games, not real evidence she might appreciate any advances.

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In late fall trouble hit.  There was a Thanksgiving break that kids with accepting families could go home during, and somebody brought home the flu.  It spread like wildfire through students and staff alike.  Bobby insisted on teaching up until the day he sneezed in class and froze his desk into a solid block of ice.  Jubilee discovered she was sick by destroying the DVD player in the rec room during a coughing fit.  Hank McCoy ordered enough rounds of Tamiflu to treat the whole school from a pharmaceutical rep he knew and everyone settled down to wait it out.

Since school was effectively canceled and gathering in common areas was ill-advised, most everyone tried to stay in their own rooms, venturing out for food, but avoiding others.  Gar had caught it fairly early, and was therefore almost well by the time quarantine was called, enough at least that he really hated Val hovering over him.  So she tried to resist her desire to mother him.  Instead she caught up with her own school-work, read ahead a few chapters in each class and tried not to go insane from isolation.  *Geez, is _this_ what it was like for Gar all those years?  Thank God he’s stronger than me or he’d be a nut-job by now.* Thinking of Gar was futile, it only made her want to go take his temperature or make him soup.  So was thinking of her class, because all her students had caught it before quarantine was called, excepting Sarah, and she’d developed some strong protective instincts regarding “her” kids. 

To keep from dying of boredom she thought about what all the powers she knew of on the staff would do under strain of illness.  Piotr might turn metallic when he coughed, but that seemed tame.  Kitty’s power would be more dangerous for her, what with the possibility of phasing through the floor.

Her mind briefly thought of the havoc that had been wrought when Bobby got sick, with impromptu ice rinks in the hallways when he sneezed and icicles dropping out of the air when he coughed.  Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Amara had gotten sick at the same time and the sudden heat waves evaporated the ice, as well as setting off the smoke alarms.  Amara was waiting out her sickness in the heat-resistant room in the basement where she had once tested her developing power, so she wouldn’t burn down the school.  Anyone with powers that could get dangerous if discharged wildly was excused from classes after that.  Storm purposely locked herself in the greenhouse, because the secrecy of the school would be blown if her powers got out of control, not to mention the damage to the Eastern seaboard.  She let Logan bring her meals, because he _couldn’t_ get sick, but aside from that no-one had seen the weather witch since the first case of influenza was diagnosed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kurt tossed in his bed.  The temperature seemed to flux between ‘flames of hell’ and ‘arctic winds’.  This particular epizootic was not the worst he’d ever had but bad enough that he was thinking longingly of the foul tasting tea his grandmother would force down his throat at the slightest sign of illness.

_“Happy thoughts,” Margali whispered into his ear as she coaxed him to drink the soothing liquid.  “Happy thoughts, my darling boy.  Thoughts are more powerful than you can imagine, so think happy thoughts.”_

He struggled into an upright positon and reached for the cough syrup by his bed.  *Happy thoughts, Wagner.  Happy thoughts.*  He measured out the syrup and downed it swiftly, then held his head.  Tipping it back had caused the pressure to shift and now he had a headache. 

*Happy thoughts.  Bright sun and green fields and dancing, remember the dancing?  The girl’s skirts were like flowers, blooming as they spun, a dance of a thousand colors.  I wonder how Valarie would look in that.  Wonderful, of course.  Imagine her dancing with the girls of the camp, imagine her smile and her laugh and then the dance calls for the men, and of course I would dance for her.  I would do whatever would make her smile.*  He eased back down into bed and drifted in the haze of codeine and fever.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Val was at her desk, doodling out possible plans for a staging of Into the Woods, one of the options still on the table.  The scene with the giantess was problematic unless they had Johnny do it, but his power was still weak enough that it would leave him exhausted.  She was debating the relative merits of never having the giantess on stage versus a series of flats representing the various parts of her, when a loud sound startled her.

Turning, she saw Kurt on her bed, curled up and shaking.  *He must have teleported in accidentally.  Poor thing looks freezing.*

She grabbed an extra blanket from her closet and draped him in it.  He turned and looked at her blearily, seeming to just accept this new arrangement.  In a few moments, though, he tossed the covers across the room and was clumsily working to free himself of his tee shirt, panting heavily.

“What’s wrong?”

“Too hot, I feel like I’m burning…”

“Well, let me help,” she said, pushing his uncoordinated hands away from his shirt.  She grabbed it by the hem and pulled it off in one motion.  “I’ll get an ice pack and some water.  Wait here.”

She ran to the kitchen, opened the freezer and pulled out one of the soft blue ice packs, and got a pitcher of lukewarm water.  Cold water would just shock his system and he might not keep it down.  She grabbed a large plastic cup from the cupboard, too.  As she returned to her room, she wondered at her actions.  Was she seriously going to try nursing her crush back to health?  Could she be any more of a cliché?  *Well, at any rate, he’s in my bed already, I might as well take care of him.*

She handed him the ice pack and watched with some amusement as he proceeded to hug it to his chest like a toddler with a favored toy.  She poured some water into the cup and helped him drink it.

“Meine schöne Krankenschwester, so fürsorglich.”

“I don’t speak German, Kurt,” Val informed him.

“Dann kann ich sagen, was ich fühle,” he slurred.  “Ich träume von dir, ich denke an dich die ganze Zeit.”

“Please speak English,” Val wasn’t sure if he was rambling due to fever or if he had taken medicine.  Dr. McCoy had given some of the staff codeine to ease the coughs.  “Kurt, I don’t understand you.”

“It is of no importance, liebchen.  Thank hyu for the vater.”  He stood, and tried to take a step forward, only to be caught by Val.

“Maybe you should stay here tonight.  Let me just pull back the covers,” she reached behind him and flicked back the sheets.  “There.  You can take the bed and I can take the armchair.”

“That seems unfair, it’s hyur bed, hyu should haff it.”

“I’m not the one who can hardly stand.  Back in bed mister.”

“Bossy, bossy.”  He looked up through hazy eyes and said with a silly smile “join me?”

And Val had no idea why she took him up on it.  He was deep in the throes of the flu and was clearly not thinking straight, but his pleading smile and the thought of cuddling won out over common sense.  They wound up spooning through the night, and when Kurt’s shivers got too strong, Val wrapped her arm around him and he stilled.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next morning, Val woke to an empty bed.  The water pitcher and the cup were still on her bedside table, letting her know last night had not been a dream, but Kurt was gone.  *Just as well.  No use in getting my hopes up.  He was sick and delirious and last night should not have happened, but it could have been worse.*

In his room, Kurt was nervously pacing.  He’d woken to a much clearer head and a lessening of his symptoms and realized what he’d done and said in the haze of fever.  He’d asked her into bed!  Granted nothing more than cuddling had happened, but that was so far from the non-aggressive plan he’d had that it wasn’t in the same state.  He considered more codeine and rest, but he obviously couldn’t be trusted when drugged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me here: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com 
> 
> If you want to know what Kurt is saying, use Google translate.


	11. Trouble come for Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rogue finds out about Val's crush on Kurt, but is dealing with her own romantic troubles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To tamarama and naruturd for comments. Feedback is gold.

The flu passed, and the school resumed its normal flow.  The first days of snow brought a snowball fight on the lawn after classes were over, and Bobby Drake building sculptures of amazing precision and beauty.  He built one for each of the teachers, each a portrait of them or if requested a representation of their power.  For Amara he crafted a throne of flames, out of ice.  She blushed a hot red, melting the snow at her feet, before taking her seat regally.

After the snowball fight, everyone went inside to warm up with hot drinks and warm towels, thoughtfully provided by some of the older teachers.  Dr. McCoy made sure to save aside extra towels for anybody with fur, as he recalled quite clearly the ice buildup in his fur the year he joined the school.  Rahne, still in wolf form, shook all over, spraying cold water over everyone nearby, before letting Jamie Maddox towel her off.  Kurt accepted his extra towel gladly, the extra dose of wetness chilled him so that he shivered.  The tremor reminded him of the night he had spent with Valarie.  Surely there was a way to find out if she held that against him.  He spotted Rogue laughing with Valarie on the other side of the kitchen.

Val noticed Kurt watching her, and turned away a little, so her blush wouldn’t show.  His sister, however, sensed that something was up.  It only took a little deduction to figure out that the cause of Val’s pink cheeks had nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with heat.

“If Ah didn’t know better, Ah’d say yah were sweet on mah brother.”

“Tell him and I’ll track down every boy you ever even looked at and send them embarrassing pictures of you before your coffee.”

“Now that’s a bluff.  Yah don’t have any photos of that, nobody’s ever taken them.”

“I will set up hidden cameras if necessary.  Seriously, he can’t know how I feel.”  A stronger blush stained her cheeks as she thought of waking to an empty bed.  “He’s made it quite clear how he feels, and there’s no need to make it awkward.”

“Seems as it’s already awkward.  But yah secret is safe with me.  Ah know how it is when yah feel something for a guy who can’t get over his own issues enough to see it.”

“Oh?  Do I detect a tragic backstory?  A tale of love and loss?”

“It was nothing, an ‘ _almost_ ’ or ‘maybe if’ sort of thing.  Part of it was me pushing him away ‘cause of mah powers, part was he couldn’t give up a bad habit that Ah couldn’t stand.”

“A bad habit?  You’re holding out on me, Rogue.”

“He was raised a thief, taught to steal from before he could shave.  It’s in his bones, and he couldn’t stop, not even for me.”

“Yeesh, I was kidding about the tragic backstory, but that _is_ majorly tragic.  I’m sorry.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A week before winter break, Val finally revealed the three options for the spring play.

“First option is Into the Woods.  It’s a musical mash-up of fairytales, but with a twist.  It’s also fairly mature in nature, so don’t vote for it unless you think you could read those lines aloud with a straight face.”

“By mature, you mean…” asked Johnny.

“There’s a scene in the second act where both princes decide to cheat on their wives with princesses in comas.”

“Jesus, lady, you thought that was appropriate for teens?” asked the empty bean bag chair by Melinda.

“Firstly, Sam, you may call me Miss Logan or Miss Val, but not “lady”.  Secondly, my high school did a production of it my sophomore year.  As they didn’t lose their accreditation, I think as long as you can approach the material with sincerity, it should be fine.  The second option is William Shakespeare’s classic Midsummer Night’s Dream.  It’s got some antiquated language, but you all did fine when we did the in class reading of Merchant of Venice.  The third choice is George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan.  You have until the first day back from break to read all of them, and decide which to vote for.  You can vote for two, ranking them first choice, second choice.  If there is a tie in the first choices, we’ll tally the second choice votes for those two plays as additional votes.  Any questions?  Yes, G.”

“We have to read three plays over a two week break?  In addition to all our other homework?” asked G.

“You also have this week.  If you read one play a week, which should be easy, I’ve seen what you can do when I’ve assigned reading, then your over break homework for me is done.  As for your other teachers, if they assign an unreasonable amount of homework for break, you better take that up with them, as I have no control over their syllabus.”

Melinda Carter’s hand shot up.

“Yes, Melinda?”

“I just was wondering, are we going to use our powers in the production?  I won’t be too useful, but like if Quin and the Cuckoos could use telepathy to make the audience see special effects, that sort of thing might be really cool, for people who could see it.”

“I suppose if you’d like to use powers I don’t see why not, but I would like to teach you some traditional effects and lighting and such.  We don’t have fly-lines available to us, but G would be able to do scenes that require them.  Other than that I’d like to keep the show as shortcut free as possible.  Any more questions?”

There were no responses, so she let them go early.  She graded all their quizzes from the Friday before (yes, she knew she was procrastinating, but she was terrified of failing her intro physics course, so she’d spent the weekend studying for that final instead).  Then she switched out the papers in front of her and went over her English 101 term paper.  She was deep in a study-fog when Rogue grabbed her arm.

“What?  What is it, what’s wrong?”

“The guy Ah told you about, the one who couldn’t give up stealing, he just pulled up and the professor is talking with him in his office right now.  What do Ah do?”

“Take off your gloves and threaten to zap him if he tries anything funny?”

“He’s already said he’s not afraid of mah powers.”

“Talk to him?  Maybe he’s not here for the reason you think.”

“He’s either here ta steal from us or ta try ta win me back.  But I told him to pick before, go straight or go away, and he walked out.  He picked what he wanted.  He coulda had me, but he chose the thrill of breaking the law.  And now he’s back and I don’t know what ta do.”

“Want me to talk to him? Give him the list of things he’s not allowed to do, namely steal and make you upset.  I’m good at stern lectures.”

“He’s a charmer, though.  You be careful talkin’ to Remy LeBeau, lest he get yah all twisted up.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Val waited outside the professor’s office, until a tall brunette man in a long coat walked out, carrying a large canvas sack.  She followed him down a hall until they were almost to the kitchen before speaking.

“Remy LeBeau, I presume?”

“Oui, dat be Gambit’s name.  And who might you be petite?”

“A woman you don’t want to cross, and a friend of one you already have.  I’m here to deliver a warning, a shovel talk if you will.  Steal anything of ours, you will pay in blood. Upset Rogue more than she already is just having you here, you will wish we only made you bleed.  I just finished reading The Cask of Amontillado, if that gives you any ideas.”

“Woah, dere petite.  Gambit ain’ here to cause trouble, he here to do something good wit his life.”

“Never bullshit a bullshitter.  Rogue gave you an ultimatum, her or crime, and you chose crime.”

“Non!  She said get out and don’ come back till you’ve gone straight.  It took me a while ta be sure I was out of de thieves guild, and a little longer ta see if I needed to pull jobs for a compulsion, but now I’m straight and I’m back.  I know it won’ be easy, tings wit Rogue an me never are.  I asked the professor for a chance at joining the X-Men, an he said I could do my testing over de school’s break.  He also say I can use de kitchens to make gumbo, and I got fresh seafood in de bag, so Remy’s gonna go now, petite folle.”  He turned and started to walk away.  Over his shoulder he called, “I promise not ta steal anyting and ta be kind to Rogue, not dat Remy’d be mean to his Chère.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Charles Xavier was having another bad telepathy day.  The beautiful feather haired woman was amazing in the moment but afterward the effect was like a bad hangover.  But today it turned out useful, when a certain Mr Remy LeBeau had come to his office to ask for a job.  Because he really didn’t have to consciously use his powers to determine the young man’s intent.  It was practically shouted at him, Remy’s desire to right his wrongs, to become a better man, to become worthy of trust.

But alongside the honest desire to help others and to clear his slate was a deep desire to win back Rogue.  He didn’t mention her verbally, but under every thought was her face, her laugh, the surprising warmth of her hands through her gloves.  Charles was a romantic at heart, but the last time Remy and Rogue had become close he’d broken her heart, and while his intentions were good (if not exactly pure), Charles read minds, not the future, and minds changed and resolutions lapsed and old habits came back.  So instead of letting Remy right on the team, he told the Cajun that he’d need to test in.  Actually, testing wasn’t a bad idea, for _any_ new X-Men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Romy, good or bad?
> 
> You can find me here: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com 
> 
>    
> Edit: I have been informed petite fou means little fool, and so have changed it to la petite folle, because folle means both madwoman and queen. So he's still implying she's nutters but also that she's commanding (which she is).


	12. Testing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remy gives out some love advice, and goes through testing. Kurt gets some information that gives him hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To tamarama and naruturd, for commenting.
> 
> In case you missed the edit last chapter, I was informed petite fou means little fool, so I changed the nickname Remy give Val to la petite folle, because folle can mean either madwoman or queen, and Val is both a little unhinged when she meets Remy and very bossy.

Winter break came, and there was a general lessening of chaos in the halls as many students went home.  More went home for winter than Thanksgiving, because the break was longer and generally thought more worth the cost of flying home and back.  Val was losing Johnny, Sam and Melinda, Doug, and Quin, who had somehow gotten invited to go on a cruise with one of the older kids.

Word spread fast in the school, even though Remy had only been there for a week, everybody knew he was going to try to test into the X-Men, so wherever he went curios stares and whispers followed.  It wasn’t like he hadn’t felt the same kind of thing before, being Le Diable Blanc in the Thieves Guild.  But this stung in ways that hadn’t.  As did the fact that while whispers followed him, hardly anyone would speak to him face to face.  He was missing conversations deeply when he walked into the rec room to find Kurt eating a tub of butter pecan ice cream on the sofa and watching Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

*Well, so much for finding friendly conversation* Remy thought.  *Might as well give up.*

With a sigh, he sat on the opposite side of the sofa from Kurt.  The shifting of the cushions alerted the teleporter to his presence and Remy prepared for another ‘shovel talk’.  Instead, something curious happened.

“Gambit.”

“Kurt.  Are you goin’ ta tell me not to mess wit ya sister?”

“Nein.  It vouldn’t make much difference, and she’s an adult, she can make her own choices.  Besides, I’m not in a position to throw stones.”

“Yeah?  What’dya do?”

This led to Kurt telling him of the flu, and the accidental teleporting, and the fever-induced decision to ask Val to bed with him.

“I’m a monster.  I should not be allowed near pretty fräuleins.”

“Now, ya see, as I heard it, you offered la petite folle a choice and she made it.  Don’ sound to Remy like you was in much shape to be forcing any issues.”

“Then vhy is she avoiding me?  She hasn’t vanted to even sit near me at dinner since it happened!”

“Kurt, mon ami, when you invite une belle femme to share a bed, then you leave before de sun rises, la belle femme have every right to be mad.  She think you don’ want her, dat you get over de fever and you see her clearer and she start to think dat you don’ think she’s pretty.  Les femmes get upset by that sort of ting.”

“I really messed up, didn’t I?”

“Yes, mon frère, you did.  But Remy done messed up plenty in his life an’ he still got hope for a happy-ever-after.”  He nodded to the screen, which was now playing the winter scene, with birds hopping onto the Beast’s fur.  “You can still have dat, Kurt.  De happy ending.”

“So I’ve just got to get shot by an egotistical hunter vhile angry villagers fight my furniture-slash-friends?  I already did that once, I’m not doing it again.”

“Not dat happy ending, de happy ending where you and la petite folle get over de mistakes an’ de misunderstandings and see if you right for one another.”

“Maybe, Remy.  But I’m still a blue, fuzzy mutant with fangs and a devils tail.  How right could I be for anybody?”

“I wouldn’t put it past la petite folle.  I got my test in an hour an a half, you mind bein’ in de observation room when I take it?  Fo’ moral support?”

“Of course, mein freund.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The test was essentially danger-room scenarios, the first of which was just a warm up, to let Remy show off his power level and precision.  In the booth above the danger-room, Professor X, Cyclops, Storm, and Wolverine were evaluating his performance.  Also in the booth were Kurt and Val, which was awkward, but both were unwilling to leave.  Kurt, because he’d promised Remy, and Val because she’d promised Rogue.

In the prep room during the first test, Jean Grey, Shadowcat, Colossus, Iceman, Magma and Rogue were getting ready for the later tests.  Each one would have a different makeup and number of team-mates Remy would need to cooperate with to achieve a goal.

The first of the team tests was an escort mission, getting an innocent (played by a Gar who’d volunteered, enthusiastically) from one end of a maze to the next, opposed by both changeable environments and several robotic “assassins” with paintball guns.  Jean, Shadowcat and Colossus were the rest of Remy’s team and Shadowcat was designated ‘leader’.  They passed that with flying colors.

The second was a warzone simulation, with Iceman and Magma following Remy’s lead.  That went…less well, when the heat drafts from Magma’s power blew one of Gambit’s playing cards off course and exploded their getaway car, prompting a trek to find a new one.  During this test, Gar had finished cleaning up after the sprint to the finish and moved up to the booth to keep his sister and favorite teacher company.

The third and final test was a simulation of a battle with Magneto’s forces.  Jean was in charge, and split them into two squads, girls and guys, while she coordinated from a safe place telepathically.  Of course, partway into the scenario, Jean was “knocked out” and the two teams had to coordinate based on the team lead’s backup radios.  Only Jean knew about this part, and Kitty panicked and was engulfed in Pyro’s holographic “flames” while fully solid, rendering her out.  Magma took the radio, despite Rogue having rank, because the absorber was looking a little green around the edges now that Jean’s voice had cut off.

Colossus charged Sabretooth, letting Iceman and Gambit try pinning down Quicksilver.  Bobby took a robotic arm to the face, rendering him not only out, but unconscious for real.  When Magma heard that over the radio, she sprinted in that direction, leaving Rogue behind.  She melted the floor beneath Quicksilver’s feet, welding him to the ground.  Gambit was concerned for Rogue being all alone, so he got directions from Magma about how to get to Rogue’s location and took off while Colossus and Magma interrogated their captives.

As he rounded a corner, Gambit saw Rogue with a fresh, spreading bruise on her face.

“Ma Chère, what happened?”

“It was awful, Remy, jus’ awful.”

“Come here, Chère, it ok now.”  He opened his arms to her and she grabbed his wrist and flipped him, simultaneously turning into Mystique.

Up in the booth, Gar said “woah” and tried to lean forward. 

Val grabbed his face in an attempt to cover his eyes and yelled, “Would somebody, please, put clothing on the naked bombshell?  We have a minor present!”

Embarrassed by the gaff, Professor X instituted what he called the censorship protocol on the hologram, fuzzing out anything not PG13.  And while it might have shocked Gambit that he was now fighting a naked blue woman with amorphous clouds around her tits and crotch, it didn't stop him from knocking her out and finding the real Rogue.  They completed the mission, _technically_ , but Cyclops wasn’t impressed.  He and the other team leaders would need to confer.

Val and Gar went to greet Rogue as she came out of the locker room, leaving Kurt to wander the nearly empty halls in quiet contemplation.  Val hadn’t objected to Mystique’s color, which Kurt had inherited.  Only to the fact she was a naked woman in front of her 13 year old brother.  Maybe Remy wasn't so far off when he said a happy ending was possible for Kurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me here: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com


	13. Surprise! (part one)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val agrees to let the Cuckoos make her over, but there's a twist waiting for her, and she's not the only one in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My computer is still in the shop (turned out I cracked a board, not just got a broken peice of headphone plug stuck in the jack) but I had the forethought to print off what I had of this chapter and use that as a starting point for retyping it into the parental's computer so I can post it.
> 
> This is part one, part two will be from another POV.
> 
> As always, much thanks to those who gave feedback, naruturd, CanadaMaddiePinkie, and MissTiffanyBlews.

Winter holidays at Xavier’s Institute for Gifted Youngsters involved an awful lot of hugging, to Val’s mind. Sure, she hugged Gar all the time, but she was hardly ever as physically demonstrative as any of the other teachers. If the teachers at her high school had done this amount of hugging they’d be fired. Then Rogue (the only other teacher to not instigate hugs) took her aside before dinner one day and explained.

“The kid’s that stay with us ovah winter, they’re usually the ones as have parents that don’t like ‘em. They need a little extra love, ‘specially round the holidays. It ain’t a rule, but most of the teachers like to give ‘em a little extra validation. You’re work-study, so you wouldn’t know, but all’a us that draw a paycheck put in a little to get ‘em presents for Christmas or Hanukah or just ‘cause.”

“That makes sense. I guess I could up my time with the kids. The Cuckoos have been trying to get me to let them give me a makeover.”

“Sounds like a plan, Val. Maybe this Friday? There’s nothin’ like bein’ all dolled up on a Friday night.”

“O-kay,” Val said. It seemed oddly specific, but then, she wasn’t exactly an expert in femininity, so maybe there really was something about Fridays.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Friday came and first thing in the morning, Val woke to a knock on her door. Celeste, Mindee, Sophie and Phoebe stood with arms full of boxes and bags and those little stacking drawers that were sold for bathrooms. It seemed like way too much for a simple makeover.

“We’re doing a head to toe, so we came prepared,” Celeste said. Even though the blondes were identical, Val had learned how to spot the slight variations. “I’m on hair, Mindee is doing makeup, Sophie is doing nails, and Phoebe will be on clothing.”

“Is all this really…necessary?”

“Yes,” Phoebe said as she poked around in Val’s closet. “Trust us, you want to look your best today.”

“What is it about today? First Rogue and now you. Is there something I should know?”

**Phoebe! She’s not supposed to know!**

**Sorry, sorry, I slipped.**

**Nothing for it now but to go to plan B**

“It’s a surprise,” Sophie said. “Not just for you, so don’t worry you’re alone in not being told.”

“A good surprise?   Or a horror movie, fake prom date kind of surprise?”

“Hopefully a good surprise,” Mindee said.

“But first we need a clean slate,” Celeste said, taking charge. “Into the shower, get super clean, moisturize, you know what to do.”

While Val was in her bathroom, Phoebe picked out the only dress that Val had and held it up for consideration. It was a sleeveless sheath of white with a forest of bluebells, forget-me-nots and ferns embroidered along the hem that would fall about mid-calf on Miss Logan.

**It’s kind of plain,** Mindee said across the telepathic link.

**The V neck would do good things for her chest though,** replied Phoebe. **I saw a cardigan in there that would match the bluebells.**

**A cardigan?** said Celeste with great offence. **We’re trying to make her look like a princess, not a librarian.**

**So, we go to the back-up plan.** Phoebe said.

**Agreed, Phoebe, you go to Miss Pryde’s room and ask for a loan of that blue ombre gypsy skirt. Sophie, you get the champagne colored peasant blouse from Rogue.** The two shot off on their missions. Celeste turned to Mindee. **What shoes does she have?**

**Jackpot!** Mindee pulled a dusty box out of the bottom of the closet, and held the contents high. Flat gladiator sandals in an ivory color accented with gold chain. . **These’ll go great with the top.**

The top and the skirt had been retrieved from their respective owners by the time Val was done showering. Wrapped in the huge towels that came with the bathroom, she patiently let Celeste brush out her hair and braid it in several braids. Celeste explained that the wet braids would dry into that shape and when they took them out the resulting waves would be easier to style. Mindee tried several eye shadows, wiping each one off as she discarded that idea, until she settled on a sheer aqua iridescent shadow, which she took off, and reapplied with a primer. With steady hands she also gave Val a perfect winged eyeliner in a deep navy blue. Val insisted on doing her own mascara, though. A different primer was applied to her face and foundation went on over that, and a light blush. Mindee and Phoebe had an intense mental fight over lip color, which Val only knew because they stood there scowling at each other for three minutes before Mindee threw up her hands and took a sheer cherry-colored stain to Val’s lips, followed by a coat of clear balm. Mindee stood back to admire the look and finally let Val speak.

“Why are we applying the make-up so early? Won’t it be rubbed off by dinner?”

“The surprise is at lunch, and that’s why I used primer and stain.”

“Now we do nails,” decreed Sophie. “I want to do a gold with maybe a little art, so you’ll need to stay still. Are you comfortable?”

Val shifted a bit and signaled she was ready. It turned out getting her nails done was very relaxing and she fell back asleep during the process. When she woke up, her first instinct was to rub her eyes, but a firm hand on her wrist stopped her.

“It’s not fully dry yet,” Celeste said. “Sophie’s still doing your toes, so try not to move.”

"My toes?"

"You're wearing the sandals from your closet, so your toes will show."

"God, I haven't worn those in ages. Am I wearing the white dress too?"

"No. Certainly not," Phoebe said. "We arranged to borrow some clothing from other teachers."

"Toes are done, but not dry yet," Sophie informed them. "No moving until they are," she admonished with a stern glare.

Val obediently lay still on the bed for ten minutes while the girls had a mental conversation about something. If she had to guess she'd say jewelry, but it could easily have been the socio-political ramifications of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice in Elizabethan England. The girls were scary smart. When Sophie tested her polish and declared it set, they stood her up and started to try taking her robe off to dress her. Val drew the line at that, and accepted the folded clothing and shooed them out of her room while she changed. The skirt obviously came from a teacher with less in the rear-end department than Val, as it hugged her ass in an almost-unseemly manner. The top fit better, but she had to take the tags off it. Plainly whoever bought it had never worn it. The wide scoop of the neckline had to be constantly adjusted to keep from showing her bra strap, but since all her bras were white, nude or the same champagne color as the top, she finally gave in, switched bras and hoped no one would notice.

She let the girls back in and they fussed with her hair, ironing ringlets into the wavy hair that came out of the braids. The resulting mass of curly hair went with the whole look very nicely, but all that work hardly seemed like it was going to be worth it, and she was starting to think Rogue's Friday theory was hogwash when they looped a gold chain with a blue glass pendant around her neck and pushed her out the door and down the hall. Outside the dining room, they stopped for a last check, Mindee adding a touch more balm to her lips.

Once she stepped into the dining room, it was clear what the fuss about Friday was. Banners reading Happy Birthday Kurt hung from the walls, a huge cake sat in the middle of the table and everyone was wearing party hats and tiaras.

Rogue sauntered up to Val, placed a gold plastic tiara on her head and guided her to one of the last empty chairs.

"Kurt's bein' kept busy by Jean, he'll be here any minute. Ah thought you'd appreciate bein' dolled up for him."

"Again, if you tell him, painful repercussions. But thank you. You could have just told me, you know."

"An' risk you rabbitin'? No way. You're gonna sit here an' be pretty for mah brother."

Just then there was a loud bamf sound and a cloud of smoke at the other end of the room.

"Surprise!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To see Val's makeover, check out http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=149274462  
> (God Polyvore is so addicting...)


	14. Surprise (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday to Kurt!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To tamarama and naruturd for commenting. It really keeps me going.
> 
> Comments really are made of gold.

Kurt had been rushing all day, first Jean wanted him to bamf to town and pick up some more hot cocoa mix, then help Bobby and Dr McCoy shovel the walk. It seemed like the list of chores was never ending, because next she asked him to test the control board in the viewing room of the Danger Room and add some non-combat scenarios with Kitty, but Kitty bailed on him halfway through when one of the Frost girls came to her for help. And it wasn't that he begrudged that, the students came first, after all. But she was the one who knew computers, so he was left being coached through a reboot by Jean telepathically.

When he finally had a moment to himself, he decided to run through one of the more relaxing Danger Room simulations, one he'd programmed himself. After relaxing by doing trapeze acts and acrobatics, he showered and searched for his clothes. His backup uniform was available, but somehow the clean khakis and sweater were missing. In their place was a pair of jeans with a tail-hole and a tight white buttoned shirt. The jeans fit, but the shirt! It was tight enough he needed to pop two buttons just to make it so he could breathe. And the sleeves puffed out. This was probably Bobby's work. Pranking him so he'd have to go to lunch in something off of Rogue's romance novels. Well the joke was on Bobby, then, because Kurt had worn much more ridiculous things in his time at the circus. In fact, all it needed was the red and gold bolero vest and it was almost identical to the outfit most of his male cousins wore. He dressed, planning on acting like nothing was different and seeing how worked up Bobby would get.

So as not to spoil the surprise he teleported straight to the dining room. When the smoke cleared, he was greeted by a cry of "Surprise!" and a handful of confetti being thrown on him by an overzealous Gar.

"Vas?" he asked, brushing confetti off his shirt and out of his hair.

"Yah forgot, didn't yah, big bro? Today's your birthday!" Only then did he note the decorations and the huge cake. Rogue guided him to a chair between herself and Val, and it took him only a moment to recognize her under the feminine get-up he wasn't sure he'd ever seen her wear.

"Vell, it's not like ve celebrated it on the same day every year. Just vhenever the circus was camped down for vinter."

"Is this a present thing or not? Rogue didn't tell me it was your birthday so I didn't get anything..." He turned to give Val his attention, happy she was speaking to him. Then he realized that it seemed she had chosen her clothes out of his wildest fantasies of dancing with her beyond the circle of vardos. She blushed hot red and it was clear to Kurt he'd been staring.

"No, no, hyu don't haff to get anything. I'm just thankful for a party." He tried for something normal to say to a pretty girl and all that he could come up with was "Hyu look very nice today, Valarie." God, could he be less smooth, implying that she didn't look nice normally. And what kind of bland compliment was 'nice' anyways? She instantly turned even redder, testament to his clumsy words.

"Some of my students wanted to give me a make-over," she explained, shifting her shirt's shoulders a little. He tried not to notice the blue (the same hue and shade as his fur) pendant hanging just shy of her breasts, then tried even harder to get his eyes up to her face again.

"Hyu didn't need one, but they did a good job nonetheless."

Inside Val's head she was screaming to say something funny or witty or anything to show him she was more than a work-study teacher with a brother who was practically her son. But nothing came. She managed a small "thanks," before turning back to her food.

They ate next to each other but not together, the silence between them stretching into the uncomfortable. The cake was cut and everyone stood up to get some, and although Val stayed by his side, she also didn't talk to him. Kurt recalled Remy's advice, he really was in the wrong, and he needed to be the one to step up. Finally Kurt psyched himself up to actually talk to her as they leaned against a wall allowing others near the cake.

"Do hyu know how to dance?"

"Like ballroom dance? N-no not really."

"Actually I vas thinking of the dances ve used to do vhen I lived in Germany. It's been a long time since I danced them. If hyu'd like, I could teach hyu."

"Sure, that sounds great. When?"

"After the party? I just finished coding some not-so-dangerous Danger Room set ups that would be perfect for it." As he finished speaking he realized how overeager he sounded. *Gott im Himmel, Wagner, you need to rein it in.*

"Sure. Will this outfit be acceptable? The girls worked so hard on it, I don't want to change unless I have to."

Kurt took the opportunity to give her a long look, although he already knew what she was wearing. "Ja, hyu should be fine."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

They met at the doors to the Danger Room. Kurt entered a code and the doors opened to the cavernous space. This was actually Val's first time in the room itself, and she looked around at the walls in wonder as Kurt called out a code and the metal turned to open sky and rolling hills formed at her feet. Over by what once was the far wall tents were set up and wagons in a circle defined a camp. Kurt offered a three-fingered hand to her and she took it, again suppressing the shiver of arousal that ran through her as her mind supplied all sorts of things that hand could do. Kurt in turn tried not to think of touching her soft supple skin more than was necessary to show her the moves. He kept his hips far back from her as he adjusted her body, for fear his rampant erection and tight fitted pants would give away the very ungentlemanly thoughts he was having.

Val wasn't blind, however, and as soon as he came to face her, she noticed the bulge. It gave her a sense of power that touching her did that to him, but she quickly reminded herself to focus on the dancing. The steps weren't that hard, and once Kurt asked the computer to play a violin solo piece to dance to, the movements came even easier. She lost herself in the dance, spinning and clapping and stomping her feet. When the men's part came and Kurt started dancing, all her nerves went on alert. His lithe form and agile body let him dance with the fluidity of a jungle cat, prowling after her and Lord if she wasn't willing to get caught.

They came together in the final part of the dance, spinning round each other and clasping hands. At some point the music stopped, and Kurt slowed them down, but his hands rested on her waist and hers were looped around his neck as she panted from the unaccustomed exercise.

"Thank hyu for this. I've vanted to dance with hyu for a long time."

"Really?"

"Since November, and the flu. I vas having dreams about it vhen I teleported to hyur room."

"But you left, before dawn, even. What was I supposed to think?"

"I haff been informed that vas a bad decision on my part. I left because I was afraid hyu vould not like that I invited hyu to bed."

"If I didn't want to I wouldn't have done it. I was scared you thought I was taking advantage, or that you woke up and realized I'm just a high-school drop-out with a kid."

"Und if I did not vant your touch I vould not haff asked. And hyu only dropped out to defend hyur bruder, and hyu managed to raise one hell of a good kid. Hyu are kind and resourceful and smart and any man vould be lucky to haff hyu."

"That's what you honestly think?"

"Ja."

And she pulled him down into a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Runs from angry mob*
> 
>  
> 
> You can find me at http://bairnsidhe.tumblr.com/


	15. Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt and Val go on a date.
> 
> D'awwwww's happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much thanks to Tamarama and Naruturd for commenting and to Night_Wolf_Moonstone for kudos. You guys feed the muse.
> 
> And just warning you, no smut this chapter. *sad face* Kurt wouldn't work with me unless I let him take Val out for dinner first. Stupid gentlemen muses.

The kiss was soft at first and then with her growing confidence when he didn't pull away, it deepened into something stronger, and his arms tightened around her waist and his tail curled possessively about her left leg. Her fingers tangled in his hair and one thumb lightly grazed an ear, causing him to moan. But when she tried to tease her tongue into his mouth he kept his lips tightly closed. She pulled back, confused. He flashed her a smile, showing the sharp canine teeth that marked his grin.

"They're too sharp. I'd love to, but I don't want to hurt hyu. And maybe I could take hyu to dinner first, before we go on?"

"Yeah," she said, breathless from the kiss, her first in many years. "Dinner would be nice."

"Tonight?"

"Yes please."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

She wound up going to Rogue for advice on what to wear and how to re-do her make-up which had sweated off during the dancing. Rogue referred her to Kitty and soon enough she found herself headed to the mall. They bought her a black velvety dress that reminded Val of the way Kurt's fur felt on her skin when they danced, and a pair of blue ballet pumps and a set of make-up all her own, including a vivid red lipstick and a sky blue shimmer powder for her eyelids. Early on in her struggles with Gar's self esteem, she started wearing a load of green to show him how much she loved the color, his color. Now she wanted to show Kurt the same thing.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Shortly after Kitty and Val left the manor, Kurt started panicking. If Kitty was taking her shopping, the outfit would be stunning and he was still...him. He almost broke down and asked the Professor for another holowatch, but that seemed cowardly. Besides, she had kissed _him_ , not some holographic version of him.

He was pacing a hole in the carpet of the rec room when Remy found him.

"Remy hear you an' la petite folle have a date tonight," he said by way of greeting.

"Ja and I'm losing it a little, how can I take her out looking like this!" Kurt gestured to his body.

"Well obviously you change clothes first, mon frère," Remy teased. Kurt glared at him. "You want Remy ta get you reservations at a place he know? Dey are very mutant friendly an' dey serve good food. Not too far from here either. Up on a bluff overlooking de ocean, very romantic...."

"Ja, that sounds good, what's it called?"

"LesFalaises. It means De Cliffs. I know Phillipe, I can get you a reservation in no time. You'll need a suit though."

"I haff one, from vhen Scott and Jean got married."

"Let Remy make de call an' you try on de suit."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Dinner time came and both Val and Kurt were nervous. Val double checked (ok, maybe more like quadruple checked) her makeup, ensured the pendant that the Cuckoos had given her was hanging straight, and patted her braid. The wild curls had looked great, but went limp after a shower to clean off the sweat from dancing. Her trusty side-braid was holding up, and everything looked good, so she paced the room one more time.

Meanwhile, Kurt was brushing his hair out of the slicked back style that had seemed like a good idea until he saw how it accentuated his ears. The suit was tailored to hide his feet, and he had the soft boots he wore on missions. If he were to be blatantly honest, the only thing keeping him from going to Val's door was fear. Fear that his looks would embarrass her once they got out into the world, fear that she'd only kissed him out of endorphin rush. But she had said yes to dinner, and the intensity of the kiss was far too great to be mere adrenaline. A knock on his door startled him out of the circle of doubt and fear.

"Kurt, yah have a date an if you make her late Ah swear to little baby Jesus Ah will shave you stem to stern."

"But, Rogue, it's only," he looked at the clock. "Heilige Mutter Gottes!"  Rogue could hear a loud bamfing sound on the other side of the door.

"Bout damn time," she muttered to herself.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Outside Val's door, Kurt ran a hand through his hair and straightened his tie before knocking. She opened the door and he felt awe and amazement. The black dress hugged her curves, and the straps bared creamy skin he hardly ever saw. The tantalizing pendant was still there, right above her cleavage and now her eyes boasted a sheer coat of blue the color of the sky in his recreation of the circus camp. His eyes slid down to her lips, the vivid color drawing the eye.

"Hyu look beautiful." She blushed and he was gratified to see the color spread down her chest towards the pendant and...*Eyes up, Wagner.* He offered her his arm. "Shall ve go?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

At the restaurant Val scanned the menu looking for prices. There were none. What did it say about the price if they wouldn't list it? Was it like yachts, where if you had to ask you couldn't afford it? Maybe she would just get a salad. That couldn't be too much, it was just lettuce and dressing.

Kurt was nervously tapping his tail against the back leg of the chair. Val had been happy on the ride over, but now she seemed fearful.

"Is everything alright?"

"There are no prices on the menu," she whispered at him. "None at all. It's making me nervous."

"But I'm paying, I thought that was the point of a date..."

"Kurt," she said slowly, "in a lot of ways I am a single mother. I have a lot of single mother psychology from raising Gar. One of those things is a complete fear of mismanaging money. There was a time in my life when going to the movies meant Gar didn't get new shoes. Not knowing the prices is driving me up a wall."

Kurt took a moment to process this, handed over his menu and took Val's. The tension eased slightly before she took a look at the prices.

"Valarie, deep breaths. I'm paying and I can certainly afford this. I get paid vell as an X-Man and as a teacher at Xavier's."

"Twenty five dollars for a steak, though...."

"Do hyu like steak?"

"Yes..."

"How hungry are hyu?"

"Very. Dancing burns a lot of calories, and shopping with Kitty burns even more."

"Ignore the price for a moment. Would hyu like to get the rib-eye?"

"Y-yes."

The waiter came and took their orders and it wasn't until the menus were off the table that Val relaxed. The two of them chatted about their students and lesson plans and Val talked about the classes she wanted to take next semester, and Kurt told a funny story about the time Bobby froze Scott's pants to his chair. They were laughing over the image when bread and herbed oil came to the table. Val had seen this before, oil was a common vegan substitute for butter at the commune, so she showed Kurt how to rip off chunks and dip them in the oil. It was delicious, but not enough to distract Kurt from the way Val smiled as she showed him something new. No wonder her students loved her, this was what she was born to do, teach.

They ate their meals with little bursts of conversation, but the star was the food, which was excellent. Val smiled at Kurt often and he grinned back, but both were focused on their steaks.

After the meal was demolished, Kurt paid and they returned to the manor and Kurt walked Val to her door. She kissed him again and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, which sent a shiver of pleasure straight to his groin. He ducked his head down for a second kiss, lightly and carefully nipping at her lip, before saying goodnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Val's outfit for the date: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=150511263&p=2


	16. Valentine's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt has plans for Valentines Day but an important mission comes up last minute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To naruturd and tamarama for commenting and to LadyMoonScar for kudos.
> 
> I'm finally picking up the loose plot point from the early chapters (like five I think) and sending them on a plot relevant mission.

Kurt and Val tried to spend more time together, but with Val's decision to devote more time to her students and Kurt's work as an X-Man, the rest of winter break passed without them going on another date.  As school started again, the opportunities for time alone got even fewer and farther between.

A week into the spring semester, Val found out about the crush betting pool and confiscated Sam's notebooks to remove all the bet sheets and gave him detention helping Ororo prepare seedlings in the greenhouse for a month.  Every student who'd made a bet got similar chores for a week.  She was tempted to give Prime double for betting she had a crush on him, but instead asked Professor Xavier to give him a talk instead.  Seriously, the whole "crush on teacher" thing was just weird.

Every once in a while when Val was having trouble sleeping, she'd slip down to the kitchen and bake a batch of cookies or brownies.  She wasn't as good as Hazel, but she'd picked up some tricks from the older woman in her time living at the commune.  She always left at least half the batch in the kitchen, but the other half went on a plate she would sneak into the German classroom.

For Valentine's Day Val and Kurt finally had enough time to spend lunch together.  The day itself was stormy, so Val was surprised when Kurt showed up at her door with a picnic basket.

"I haff booked the Danger Room for our lunch.  I thought ve might set it to the same location as vhen ve danced?"

"That's so sweet." She linked her arm with his free one and together they strolled the halls to the Danger Room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The room set itself to a sunny day and rolling hills.  The brightly colored tents and wagons were off in the distance and Kurt laid out a thick red check blanket.  Val started to help unpack the food but Kurt playfully slapped her hands away.

"It's a surprise, mein Schatz," he said.  "Hyu just sit there and enjoy."

The first course turned out to be vegetables and a spicy, creamy sauce for dipping.  After Val's eyes started to water at the intense spice, Kurt produced two bottles of birch beer, which calmed the burn nicely.  Next came a plate of fried chicken, which thankfully wasn't spicy at all.  Along with the fried chicken were two bowls of potato salad, heavily laden with dill.  Val adored dill, and made sure to let Kurt know how much she liked the food.

"For you Schatz, I vould cook anything at all that hyu desired.  I admit, I did ask mein sister what hyu might like.  She suggested that I make the potato salad."

"Of course she would, wouldn't she?  She's pretty invested in us being a couple.  I wonder why?"

"She's a romantic at heart, hyu know.  I think it's that she has such a hard time having a relationship herself, that she invests herself in other people's relationships.  But I am glad for it.  Vithout her machinations I vould never haff had the courage to ask hyu to dance, and we never would haff kissed."

"Speaking of kissing, would you like to do some more of that?"

"Oh, Gott im Himmel, yes.  But vouldn't hyu like to see dessert first?"

"As long as post-dessert dessert is you, then yeah, we can do dessert."

"That can be arranged Schatz," he said as he pulled a covered cake dish from the bottom of the basket.  Inside was a chocolate cake with cherries topping each precut slice.  He served them both a slice, and Val discovered her man (if you could really call him her man after two dates) either could really bake or knew someone who did.  The cake was moist, the chocolate frosting rich, but in between the layers of the cake was a slightly sour cherry jam that cut the decadence and made it bearable.

"Did you make this?"

"Ja.  Just because ve spent most of the year in vardos doesn't mean Margali let me get away vithout learning her recipes vhen ve stopped at our wintering spot.  Do hyu like it?”

“Yes, very much.” Val finished her cake and put the plate aside.  Kurt followed her example and smiled as she ran her hand across his face, wiping up a bit of frosting.  His eyes locked onto her fingers as she licked them clean one by one.

“Hyu have a little something,” he gestured to the corner of his mouth and then when she reached up to wipe away the smudge of frosting he pulled her hand away.  “Let me.”  It was as much a question as it was an offer.  She looked at him with dark eyes and nodded slightly, mouth barely open.  He felt soft puffs of air from her shallow breathing as he pressed a kiss to the corner of her lips, darting his tongue out to catch the frosting, but also to tease at the opening of her mouth.  She let out a moan and tangled her free hand in his hair.

The kiss deepened, and Val was sure she’d left her common sense around here somewhere, but for the moment the feel of Kurt’s lips on hers and his hair against her fingers consumed her thoughts.  A horrible idea occurred to her and she tried to forget it.  It was no use.

“Kurt, we’re in the Danger Room.”

“Ja, Schatz.”

“The Danger Room has an observation room above it.”

“Mm hmm,” he assented as he nuzzled into her neck.

“Kurt, anybody could be watching, _Gar_ could be watching, _Rogue_ could be, scratch that, **probably is** watching.”

Kurt sighed.  “Ja.  And with popcorn.  I should take hyu back to hyur room.”  He helped her stand, before wrapping her in his arms.  “Brace hyurself on me, this can get disorienting.”

“Wait, what about the picnic stuff?”

“I’ll come back for it later, mein Schatz.  Es war wunderbar, mit dir. Du küsst gut.”

“Still don’t speak German.”

“I know Schatz,” he laughed.  Then there was a swirl of smoke and a sound like bamf, and they were outside Val’s room.  “See you at dinner?”

“Yeah.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Right after Kurt finished picking up the picnic supplies, he got a telepathic summons.  When he reached the Professor’s office, he noticed the grim look on the Professor’s face and the worried crease in Jean’s brow.

The other X-Men filed in and once Logan closed the door, the Professor addressed them gravely.

“Danielle Moonstar went home over winter break to visit her family.  She emailed me shortly after that asking for a brief leave of absence to deal with an ill family member.  I agreed.  But when I contacted her parents asking after her well-being and what I could do to help with the situation just moments ago, they claimed Danielle had not come home for Christmas.  Her uncle also has had no word from her.  I can’t find her with Cerebro, and neither can Jean.”

“What do we know, Chuck?” asked Logan  “I’m hearin’ a lot of can’t’s and don’t’s right now.”

“We know we put her on a commercial flight to Denver, and we know that flight landed safely and with no complications.  It was the final stop for that plane, so she must have gotten off.  Somewhere between Gate 37 of the Denver airport and the taxi stand, Danielle disappeared.  Also, her parents received an email telling them she wasn’t planning on coming home after all.  I suspect the same person responsible for her disappearance is responsible for both fake emails.  Kitty, I’d like you to track that.  Kurt, if you, Jean and Logan would go to the Denver Airport so they can scout for clues, I would be obliged.  They may need a speedy exit.  You’ll need a holowatch for the mission, and I programmed one for you.”

Kurt took the watch and put it on, feeling a swirling in his gut as he did so.  He told himself firmly that undercover missions required blending in and that it wasn’t a betrayal of his vow.  He kept telling himself that as they strapped into the Blackbird.  He toyed with asking Jean to relay a message to Val that he wouldn’t be at dinner, but the telepath was already in a bad mood being paired with Logan.  Bringing up his own somewhat successful romance would just make her that much more snappish.  He’d have to make it up to Valarie another way.  He wondered what her favorite flowers were and Jean growled at him.

“Ok, ok, mind on the mission, I get it.  Now if hyu vould kindly get out of mein head, hyu don’t need to hear anything else.”

“Great,” drawled Logan sarcastically, “mission’s off to a great start guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me here: http://bairnsidhe.tumblr.com/
> 
> I'm taking a temporary hiatus on my long fics right now to deal with grief issues, so this may be the last chapter for a while. Feel free to send me prompts for ficlets so I don't get rusty.


	17. New Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt's on a mission, and Val's trying not to know about her brother's hormones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To fluorspar, MithRile, KnittedOri, i11iad, kenzieann04, Leighlagames, and Bluerose160 for Kudos  
> To naruturd and KnittedOri for comments  
> And to all the people who have helped me in this past year's difficulty.
> 
> Hiatus is now lifted and I will be working on more chapters, but I'll be taking it slow.

Doing recon was boring.  He watched the crowds go by and wondered if he would ever feel anything but discomfort around them.  A little girl cried for a lost balloon now high in the rafters.  He could get it for her easily, but then how would the parents react?  His sensitive ears caught a woman complaining into a cell phone about her boss, then he re-focused and found a teen with cheap headphones listening to that Korean pop music Tabby had tried to get him to like.  It was somewhat more enjoyable at this muted volume than Tabitha’s default setting of ‘ear-bustingly loud’.  He hummed along and tried not to feel useless as he leaned on a pillar while his team did the work.

Kurt had no tracking skills, and no telepathy to scan for thoughts of Dani, he was merely the get-away driver.  His tail twitched in irritation but he was careful to keep it inside the holographic coat he was “wearing”.  He settled his back more comfortably against the pillar he was leaning against.

“Can’t get a goddamn thing,” Logan complained as he slid into place next to Kurt.  “Airports, I tell ya.”

“The guard at the exit saw Dani,” Jean said, bracketing Kurt from the other side.  “He thought she was attractive, otherwise the memory would be too deeply buried.  A woman working at the bookstore saw her exit a bathroom, and she looked drunk.”

“That’s not the Dani ve know, she _hates_ alcohol, it messes vith her abilities,” asserted Kurt.  “Who else thinks she vas drugged?”

“Drugged?  Bad for Dani, good for us, drugs stink.  Which bathroom, Red?”

“The one closest to the exit from the terminal.”

“What are we waiting for?  Let’s go sniff around then.”

Logan led the way to the bathroom in question, while Jean ground her teeth.  Despite her deep love for Scott, Logan’s sudden about turn in the way he treated her hurt and he kept his shields up all the time now.  Kurt laid a soothing hand on her shoulder, grounding her in the moment.  Logan's reluctance to talk had hurt him too, but for Jean it was harder, given what they almost had.  Logan’s pace picked up as they reached the last place anyone had seen Dani.  He took two deep breaths in through his nose and started walking, fast.  Jean and Kurt hurried to keep up with him.  They reached the taxi stand and Logan let out a string of invective.

“Lost her.”

“I’ll go scan the check-in clerk.”  Both of them knew it was an excuse to leave the two of them, or rather just Logan, but they let it slide.

“So, how are things with you and Momma Bear?”  Logan had started calling her that ever since Gar walked away from a dodgeball match with a bloody nose and Val had come after Logan with a vengeance.  They had worked it out, but the fight left everybody impressed with Val’s gutsiness.

“Sehr gut…very good.  Although I’m missing dinner vhen I said I’d be there, so…”

“That’s good.  I wouldn’t worry too much about dinner.  She’s even enough now to take it.  You’re good for her.  Before, when they first got here, whew, she was bouncing all over.  Now you two worked things out, she’s leveling out, it's a good sign.”

“Vas?”

“Her scent.  It kept changing.  It does that when people switch moods drastically.  Now she’s level, not going off the charts.”

“Huh.  So hyu approve the match?”  Kurt looked up to Logan, the man had been instrumental in getting him through some rough things, but if he said no… Kurt wasn't above replacing his shampoo again.

“Bub, doesn’t matter if I do, what you do is between you two.  That said, yeah, you’re good for each other.  You keep her level, she keeps you up.  You aren’t depressed anymore.  Which I like ‘cause that smelled awful.”

“Good to know.  Sorry about ‘stinking up the joint’,” Kurt imitated Logan.

“Nah, it’s no big deal Elf.  If those scents bugged me I wouldn't work with teens.”

“Vhat is taking Jean so long?” Kurt glanced at his watch before recalling he had no idea when Jean had gone over to scan the clerk.  Both men popped their heads up to scan the crowd for Jean.  Logan’s walk as he made his way to where they’d last seen her was positively predatory, almost prowling, and several civilians scrambled to get out of his way.  Kurt’s own walk was fast, but not as aggressive.  Which made sense in his mind.  Logan had given up on Jean as a romantic relationship, but he was still protective of her, somewhat more so since whatever revelation had caused him to switch from history to PE as a class topic.

“Hold up.”

“Vhat is it?”

“The drug, the same one.  Scent trail leads that way.”  The two men took off at a run, Logan leading, Kurt following.  They caught sight of Jean being helped into a car by a large man in a suit.  Logan let out a roar and tackled the guy.  Kurt helped Jean stand.

“What?  What’s going on?  Who are you?  Why is that man hitting Rake?”

“Jean, vhat do hyu remember?”

“I was waiting for a taxi…and then Rake offered to drive me…and then I was in the car and you took me out of the car.”  Her voice was dreamy and unfocused.

“Jean, hyu are not a dumb woman.  Hyu are, in fact, a _very_ smart woman.”

“Aww, you’re sweet.”

“So _vhy_ in for the love of Gott im Himmel, vould you _get in a car_ with _a man hyu don’t know_!?”

“He seemed nice?”

"Lieber Gott, es ist wie im Gespräch mit einem fünfjährigen Kind, und nicht eine kluge einem.”

She giggled.  Actually giggled.  Kurt had never heard Jean giggle in his whole life except that one time everyone swore not to talk about with the punch.

“You’re funny,” she said.

“Jean, hyu could put me in a coma vithout blinking an eye.  Hyu could lift that van over our heads with a thought.  But hyu’re acting like a brainless…GAH.”

Logan had finished putting the suited man through the pavement, and came over to see why Kurt was tugging his hair.

“Hey, you’re kinda cute,” she said to Logan.

“Jean, for the love’a God, don’t. I know you don’t get it, didn’t live it, but it’s just plain cr-”

“What’s your name?” she interrupted.

“ **What?** ” he practically screeched, only with his vocal register it came out more like a menacing growl.

“Jean is acting like she doesn't haff the common sense of a kindergartener; I don’t think she’s herself.  I say ve regroup and go home.”

“I say we grab all the electronics in this thing and Knucklehead’s cell first.  Half-Pint can get all sorts of things off of them.”

“Logan, ve may be in a camera blind-spot, as the complete absence of security suggests, but if ve loot the car people _vill_ notice.”

“So let’s load Knucklehead into the trunk and drive to John’s place.  He’s as invested in getting Dani back as we are.”

“Ja.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The ride to John Moonstar’s ranch was uneventful.  Jean slept in the backseat most of the way, Logan drove like a man with a body in his trunk (precisely the speed limit and not a bit more), the body in the trunk moaned when they hit potholes, and Kurt manned the GPS.

The Moonstar’s ranch gate was open when they arrived, thanks to a quick phone call from Kurt.  As they drove up to the house, John Moonstar, a tall, deeply tanned man with long held groves in his face where most people developed wrinkles waved at them from the porch.

“Any news?” the taciturn man asked.

“We believe Dani was drugged with something that affects common sense an’ memory,” Logan told him.  “Jean got hit with it too, an’ almost got in a car with a guy she didn’t know.  She’s still unconscious, but I’m hopeful that it will have worked out of her system by the time she wakes up.”

“This isn’t reassuring.”

“Wasn’t meant to be,” the equally taciturn mutant replied

“Want to use the basement for questioning?”  It was as much a statement as a question or an offer.

“Yup.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Val knew something was up when Kurt didn’t show for dinner.  She asked Rogue and only got the vague explanation of “mission”, which really could cover almost anything.  To keep from worrying, she turned her attentions to her other favorite mutant, much to her brother’s dismay.

“Not cool, Val,” he hissed after she interrupted his vigorous attempt to impress the quiet telekinetic he was sitting next to by asking how his math homework was coming along.

“More cool than letting my brother fall behind.  Homework after dinner, I’ll help, but no arguments kiddo.”

“You’re his sister Miss Logan?” asked the girl.

“Yes.  I’m sorry but I may have forgotten your name.”

“It’s Raven.  Actually it’s something different, but I hate that name because my dad picked it and he’s pretty much a giant bag of dicks.”

“Language, Raven, please,” Val begged, hoping her brother didn’t pick up such phrases from the girl he clearly liked so much.  Knowing her intellectual pride was a likely weak point, she primly continued “Vulgarity is for those with inadequate lexicons.”

“Sorry, Miss Logan.  It seemed an accurate metaphor.  Perhaps a better one is that my biological father is like an infinite matryoshka doll of unpleasant, cruel and evil traits.  They get worse the deeper you go.  But hating him for all of it takes up too much energy.”

“Then the best way to get revenge is to be the opposite.  Be better every layer you build into yourself than you were before.”

“I’m not sure I _can_ be good, Miss Logan.”

“That’s cray-cray, Raven, and you know it!” exclaimed Gar.  It seemed maybe his interest went deeper than showing off.  Who gave Val’s baby brother permission to grow up and start looking at girls?  Probably the same cosmic wackiness that gave her Kurt, she supposed.  Maybe it was time The Talk was needed.  Or she could chicken out and ignore it until she could foist it on a male teacher.  Or Kurt when he got back, as he’d mentioned dating and romance were slightly different for visible mutants than passable ones and baseline humans.

So it was with unpleasant ideas at the corners of her mind she finished her food, helped Gar finish his homework and settled down to an uneasy sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on tumblr at http://bairnsidhe.tumblr.com/
> 
> Also, a virtual cookie to anyone who can spot the SPN reference and give a decent guess what/who it is talking about in the Marvel 'Verse.


	18. Briefing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be one really long chapter, but I decided it worked better as two.
> 
> Many thanks to everyone who commented or left kudos.

Kurt’s return the next day was in the early hours of the morning.  But despite that, and the bone deep tiredness, his feet found their way to Val’s door.  He didn’t even think as he knocked.

Val hurried to the door when she heard the rapping.  Anyone knocking at this hour had a good reason, and with Kurt on a mission that reason could be both bad and urgent.  Pulling shut the robe she was wearing over her nightgown she opened the door to a very tired Kurt.

“Schatz,” he said, his voice a ragged plea.  Not even thinking about it, Val wrapped her arms around him.  He sobbed into her hair for a few minutes.

“It’ll be alright.  Everything will be fine.  Whatever it is we’ll fix it.”

“Schatz.  Mien Schatz.  Nothing is fine.  I know vhy…I can’t stop being grateful and it’s wrong but I know vhy you vere driven from hyur home.”

“Xenophobic assholes with more charisma than is good for them.  Kurt, I didn’t like that happening but it brought me here, to safety and friends and a job I love and most importantly to you.  I’m grateful for it too, even with the cost, you don’t need to feel bad about any of that.”

“No, Schatz.  It vas deeper.  Schlechter.  There’s a briefing.  Hyu should come.”

“I’m not a mutant, Kurt, and I’m especially not an X-man.”

“No.  But hyu are one of the few people who have a right and a need to know this.  Ve thought ve had destroyed an evil, but ve only drove it deeper.  Hyu should come.”

“If you say so.  I’ll put on clothes.”

“Vas?”

“Kurt, it’s four am, I’m in a nightgown.  I am not going to my first and likely only briefing in a nightgown, even if Kitty did have really good taste picking it out.”

Only then did Kurt’s eyes drop from her face to take in the deep V neck gown in an uncharacteristic blue satin that hugged her curves from her breasts down to maybe three or four inches over the knee.  It was undoubtedly the sexiest thing he’d ever seen, in spite of the threadbare pastel green robe patterned with cartoon frogs wearing crowns.  Actually, the robe might make it even better.  A long moment passed in silence.

“Eh-hem.  Kurt, face is up here.”

“Oh, Heilige Mutter Gottes!  I am so sorry Schatz, I didn’t mean to stare.  Ja, clothing, clothing is gut.  Hyu do that.”

“I’ll meet you where?”

“The Professor’s office.  I can stay if hyu vant me to valk hyu there?”

“Just walk?  Are you tired enough you can’t teleport?  Kurt if something is wrong you need to go see a doctor.”

“I could, but vell, my abilities, not everyone likes them.  Especially baseline humans, Amanda pretended, but it made her sick and dizzy…”

“I’ve heard about her and trust me when I say I’m not a single bit like her in any way other than the superficial, and that’s all she was.  I liked when you took me back to my room.  It felt good.”

“Then I shall ‘bamf’ hyu there, as mein sister calls it.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Val emerged a few minutes later in jeans, a graphic tee claiming pizza as her Valentine and her hair in a messy bun.  It was a far cry from the slinky nightgown, but Kurt found it no less endearing.  He opened his arms and she readily held him so that he could teleport them both.

Kurt’s warm body was no hardship to hold, and Val hadn’t been lying when she said she liked his power’s twisty rush, although whether that was the power or the way he held her, she had no idea.  Especially when his tail wrapped around her too, since she knew he wasn’t always in conscious control of it, so the fact it held her close was another reassurance of his feelings.

In seconds they were at the Professor’s door.  Kurt released her slowly, hoping what she would learn wouldn’t change her feelings, but in case he wanted this moment to last.  He wanted the look in her eyes to stay the same, the smile at the edges of her mouth and that tiny dimple to stay there, to see her look at him with fondness and maybe even love, instead of fear or disgust or any of the things that might soon replace that warm expression.  But no moment lasts forever and soon they were seated with the others.

“Logan, Jean and Kurt returned from Colorado with some very troubling news,” announced the Professor.  “Not only was Danielle purposely targeted, but we also know who did so.  Jason Stryker.”

“Son of a-isn’t that guy dead?” asked Scott.  “We almost lost Jean at Alkali, last time we faced him.”

“You _did_ lose me.  I came back.  That’s a thing that happens in our lives.”

“How can you be so calm about this?”

“You think I’m happy about this Scott?  He wasn’t even at full power at Alkali, and now he has a team of scientists turning his spinal fluid into suggestibility drugs.  Varying doses and strengths, our helpful little rat had witnessed the first two, the mild one that mostly affects those with psychic powers and wears off so Stryker the younger can have, and I’m quoting a memory, ‘clean subjects’.”

“Und the second?” Kurt asked nervously.

“Not exactly mind-control.” Kurt sighed in relief.  “Apparently that serum requires too much spinal fluid for Jason’s tastes.  But pretty close.  It can take hidden parts of a psyche and bring them out.”

“Is Phoenix going to be a problem?” asked Logan.

“How do you…”Jean looked at him askance.

“73.”

“Excuse me,” Val said, “but I still don’t understand.  Who is Jason Stryker, and what did he have to do with the riot?”

“To put it plainly, Jason Stryker is a very powerful mutant who also happens to be extremely sociopathic, sadistic, and raised in practical captivity by his exceedingly anti-mutant father.  It warped some of his logic.  He has powers similar to Danielle, with the addition of the power to put people in a very suggestible state.  Unfortunately he uses these powers for evil.”

“His dad tried to use him to get the President to order Mutant Registration,” added Bobby.

“His dad made him use his powers on the _President_?”

A tense silence filled the room.

“Nein, mein geliebter.”  Kurt looked down at his hands.  Hands that hadn’t been fully clean for a long time, but almost became the hands of a murderer.  “He used them on me.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Jason’s spinal fluid acts as a mind control agent,” Bobby explained.  “Kurt was away dealing with some stuff; we thought he was in Germany… until we heard about the assassin.”

“I almost killed him.  It was so close….”

“Kurt, Ah told you once Ah told you a hundred times, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.  You didn’t kill anybody.”

“But…”

“Kurt, look at me,” Val demanded.  As his eyes met hers she frowned at the helplessness she saw there, and he flinched.  This wasn’t good.  “Kurt.  Listen real carefully.  I grew up giving black eyes to the people who made my loved ones feel bad.  So stop shit-talking my boyfriend, the _superhero_ , unless you want a smack upside the head.”

“Boyfriend?  Und who vould that be?”  Kurt teased.

“Do I look like I’m kidding?  It wasn’t you who did that stuff it was this Stryker guy.  Badmouth yourself like that again and there will be consequences.   _Nobody_ talks like that about the people I love.”

“Back to the matter at hand,” Jean said, “The second formula has proven successful at getting psychically powered mutants with internalized self-hatred to start riots and lead anti-mutant protests, all while using their powers to enforce the hatred.”

“Richard…,” Val muttered with a sudden understanding.

“Was a mutant.  He was given a dose of the second serum and when he responded well to classic conditioning, he was released.  His power set is a more moderate version of the powers of a villain called Honest John.  People listen to him and believe any lie he tells.”

“But why would Stryker do that?  He’s a mutant too.”

“Alas, my dear,” said the Professor, “Jason and his father agreed on one thing, and that was that this conflict so far contained to the legislature and pundits can only be solved with open war.”

“Stryker de second is obviously bettin’ on de mutants, but he need to fan the flames a bit and what better way is dere to start a ‘righteous war’ than wit some martyrs.  Its sick, but Gambit can’t say it ain’t smart.”

“Doesn’t change the fact he’s playing dirty pool with our people,” said Logan.

“So we stop him.  We did it before,” answered Ororo, putting a hand on Logan’s shoulder.

“His new base has defenses we might not be able to break,” said Kitty.  “I tracked him, and I know where it is and let me tell you, nobody is going to like it.”

“Where is it, Kit-Kat?” asked Amara.  “I could use a chance to burn something down.”

“With Dani and who knows how many others still inside?  Besides, it’s a church and believe me when I say people object to the burning of holy sites.  I'm Jewish, we know that shit is bad news.”

“So what do we do?  Can’t Jean just force-wave them into letting us in?” asked Bobby.

“No,” said Logan in a flat voice.  “If Stryker has a serum that can turn subconscious self-hatred into a full on mutant hatred, then Phoenix doesn’t go within fifty miles of him.”

“Stop bringing her up, Logan," demanded Jean.  "It’s creepy and invasive.”

“And you trying to find my memories of it isn’t?  I can feel it, you know and I had those locked down for a reason.”

“We still can’t leave Dani with them,” said Val, interrupting another argument.  “So it’s a church, the thing about churches is they _like_ people coming in.”

“I’m not sure how many of us could get through one sermon without using our powers.  I fried a motherboard while reading the website, and I’m not even Christian,” Kitty pointed out.

“I _don’t_ have powers, though.  Send me in.”

“Schatz, no.  These people are dangerous.  Hyu could get hurt.”

“They started a riot on my brother’s birthday, they used you.  I’m well aware they aren’t collecting money to end world hunger.  But I can get in and you can’t.”

“And Kurt, you should know, Rogue and Logan have been working with her on fighting techniques,” added Xavier.  “She’s proficient in hand to hand.”

“I passed her, Elf.  She ain’t an X Man, but she’s good,” Logan said.  “Feints like nobody’s business, good gut shots, and fast.  Momma Bear can handle this.”

“I’ll cancel your classes for tomorrow and the day after, take some time to go over Kitty’s intel.”

“Thanks for your trust.  I won’t let you down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr: http://bairnsidhe.tumblr.com/
> 
> Val's nightgown: http://ak1.polyvoreimg.com/cgi/img-thing/size/l/tid/133233552.jpg
> 
> Val's ten minute look: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=196350689


	19. Stowaways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val sets out, but nothing is ever as easy as it should be, when you have a pack of highly loyal mutant teens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second half of what was going to be a super long chapter.
> 
> I'm having trouble fleshing out my teen characters, so if anyone wants to prompt a scene using them, let me know and I'll add it to the Marvel'verse side story dump.
> 
> Great thanks to tamarama for squeee-ing in the comments and to the three guests who left kudos. Feedback is grade A muse-chow.

Val patted her hair, back in a tight bun that hurt and gave her a permanently pinched look.  Her drama teacher had taught her many tricks, some that she was passing on to her kids, and one was that if you needed to look the same way through even the hardest lines to keep a straight face during, you could not beat a painful hairstyle or tight shoes for keeping yourself stone cold on stage.  Approximately two cans of hairspray and twenty bobby pins held it in place, so hopefully her normally untamable hair would stay put.

“So, the inside of the primary facility, under the church, has some heavy psychic shielding,” Kitty told her as they walked to the jet.  “We won’t be able to hear you unless we’re right on top of you, and that isn’t safe.  Stryker the elder worked with a guy called Trask, who developed a mutant detector.  Fortunately most people forgot about that, but Stryker the younger pulled from his dad’s playbook and is using them around the lab.”

“I’m not a mutant, so that shouldn’t slow me down.”

“No, but it means back-up is slim pickings,” added Rogue as she joined them, leaving the ready-room with Remy.  It looked like that relationship was going well.  “They may’a blocked radio too.”

“Well, ‘s wha’ Remy’d do if’n he was settin’ up an evil lair.  An’ I been breakin’ into enough places in my life t’ know how t’ secure sometin’.  Not too late to back out, petite folle.”

“Not on your life, buddy-o.”

“Yah owe Logan twenty bucks, Remy,” said Rogue.  “Ah warned yah not ta bet with him, he don’t like to gamble.”

“Remy don’ owe nobody nothin’ till she on de plane.  An’ Remy don’ gamble much either, mon Chère.  Soon as Remy be owin’ Logan, several other people be owin’ Remy.”

Rogue narrowed her eyes.  “Yah used him to figure if she’d do it.”

“What are friends for, ma belle?”

“Swamp Rat.”

Val rolled her eyes.  It was nice to know her friends would distract her from her nerves, but she wanted info.  “So I’m on my own inside, what do I look for?”

“Lab equipment, cells, stasis tubes, who knows?”

“Priority one, free the prisoners, correct?”

“No,” said Logan by the jet.  “Priority one, figure out which prisoners are safe to free, priority two, free them.  Priority three, wreck shit.”

“Got it.  Who’s my pilot and where are we landing?”

“Blackbird’s piloting, you land a half mile off the road, then it’s maybe a fifteen minute walk to the edge of town where the church is.”

“Have I met Blackbird?”

“Blackbird’s the plane.  Autopilot’s been set, watched ‘Ro do it a few minutes ago.”

“Ready?” asked Kitty.

“No,” said Val.  “Let’s do this.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

About an hour into her flight Val started pacing.  She was headed back to Cali.  SoCal, not San Fran, but closer to her past than she liked.  On her third pass she tripped, only to see a smirking Johnny.  Her eyes panned the plane and her whole class was there, possibly excluding Sam.

“You all are _so_ grounded when we get back.  Detentions for the rest of your school careers.”

“We wanted to help,” said one of the Cuckoos.  Sometimes Val could tell them apart, but when fully in their Stepford Cuckoo shared space the tells disappeared.  “You need a team,” said another.

“How did you even get on this plane?”

“Omega-level telepath,” Quin said, pointing at himself, “telepathic hive mind,” he said pointing at the Cuckoos, “illusionist,” he pointed to Johnny.  “You can do a lot more together than apart, and we were already pretty strong.”

“And Sam’s mostly invisible anyway,” added Melinda, pointing to a spot on the wall.

“Do you even know where I’m going and why?”

“Yes,” said all four Cuckoos in unison.  “We knew about your power since the flu, it’s hard to keep your mind to yourself when you’re sick.”

“You aren’t mad?”

“No, why would we be?” asked Kendrick. 

“You’re a good teacher,” said Sam.

“And you were nice,” added Sarah, without a stammer, an infrequent thing.

“And if you hadn’t been nice to Index, I never would have given her a chance,” added G, with a smile at her girlfriend.

“If FloatIndex would stop being sappy, please,” asked Prime.

“Float...Index?”

“It’s their portmanteau,” he explained.  “G is Floater, Sarah is Index, so FloatIndex.  Like a ship name in fanfic.”

“That’s so weird.”

“You should see the list we came up with for you and Mister Wagner,” Prime said exasperatedly.  “That was a toughy.”

“I don’t even want to think about you thinking about us.  No offence.”

“None taken.  I was out of line at the beginning of class.”

“Speaking of out of line, you are all in terrible danger, I’m radioing back to let them know they need to pick you up.”

“No, you aren’t,” said Doug.  “Linguopath, remember?  Computers communicate; it's how the internet works.  They just use another form of language.  Blackbird listens to me, because I listen to her.”

“We’re going to help you.  You don’t get a say,” said Jubilee defiantly.

“Two words: mutant. detectors.”

“About that…” Quin looked at his feet. “I used to have a bit of a drug problem.”

“Understatement,” Sophie said.  It was obviously her, and her sisters all had identical worried looks, meaning she probably shut them out.

“Ok, I was a power hungry jerk who abused MGH to get my power levels up.  Point is, without this stuff Dr. McCoy made me, I’d have died.  It cancels out MGH.  Even the naturally made stuff in all mutants.  For about an hour, one patch dampens your hormone levels enough to pass.  But it only weakens powers, it doesn’t change the actual stuff in our DNA.  Prime’ll be strong and tough, the Cuckoos and I’ll be psychic, Kendrick will have his energy thing, so on.  Harder to use them, but the detectors won’t pick us up.”

“Ok, so no sirens going off, you still aren’t fully trained.”

“You aren’t either,” Melinda pointed out.  “And the Cuckoos can give any of us the knowledge of anybody in a five mile radius.”

“The base is psychically shielded.”

“Shit.”

“Yes, Mindee, shit indeed, as in: you are up a creek of this without a paddle.”

“We’re still helping,” said Jubilee.  “I like Dani.  She’s a good teacher.  I don’t want somebody making her evil and gross.”

With a sigh, Val recognized a fight she couldn’t win.  “Ok, but at the slightest sign of danger, you leave.  Vamoose, skidaddle, beat it.  Exeunt Left, pursued by Bear.”

“Got it,” said Kendrick with a grin.  “You tell us what to do and we’re on it Momma Bear.”

“Huh?”

“That’s your X-Man name.  Mr. Logan picked it, and it stuck,” explained Prime.  “Your portmanteau with Mr. Wagner is NightBear.”

Val rolled her eyes as they touched down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at bairnsidhe.tumblr.com


	20. Infiltration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the lovely naruturd, without whom this wouldn't exist.

As the group trekked to the road, Val went over safety protocols.  She hadn’t asked the kids to come along, but they had and she’s sure as spit not going to let them get hurt because of her.  At least they were wearing the protective gear from Danger Room sessions.

“We need to update your wardrobe.  I’m glad you thought to use the training suits but we’ll never get you inside with them.”

“Actually, Miss Logan, I already updated our looks,” Johnny said.  “Not even cameras will see the real outfits.”

“What?”  One of the Cuckoos handed her a double sided compact mirror.  The side that would ordinarily magnify showed a second reflection.  The Cuckoo behind her was reflected in her blue nano-kevlar bodysuit in the left hand mirror, but in the right she was wearing a two-tone pale pink sweater and knee-length skirt with a white cardigan and flats. The girls took turns standing behind her. The outfits changed, with the exception of the cardigans and the flats.

“Phoebe is in pink, Celeste is in yellow, Mindee is in ice blue, and Sophie drew green,” explained Johnny.  “We’re all in appropriate costumes for the undercover bit.  You don’t see it because I set it while we were flying and left everyone on the jet out of the trick.”

“Ok, but try to keep your faces away from cameras.  I don’t want you identified.”

“Got it Momma Bear.”

“While we’re at it, code names, I know you have them and I want to know them.”

“The Cuckoo’s are just the Cuckoos,” said Prime.  “In action they operate as one, so one name.  Floater and Index you already know are G and Sarah, Quin is Kid Omega, Jubes is Wondra.”

“Wondra?”

“It’s a work in progress,” defended the young woman.

“Anyway,” continued Prime, “Johnny is Trix, Doug is Cypher, Kendrick is Redirect, Melinda is Veritas, and Sam is Optic.”

“Ok, I think I got it,” Val said.  “Now, remember, no powers, no matter how angry you are.”

“The MGH-inhibitor patches should make that easier,” Quin said.  “You won’t be at full power, and the Cuckoos and I will be blocking most of the sermon from reaching you.” 

“It’ll go in one ear,” said Celeste, “and out the other,” finished up a Cuckoo not reflected.  The mirror was helpful, but confusing.  She put it away.

“That should keep our focuses occupied enough we can’t react,” added another Cuckoo.

“Ok.  When we get inside, Optic searches, it isn’t like he’ll be spotted leaving the room.  Look for trap doors, or doors with too much security.  Do not, I repeat, do not enter until we join you.”

“Got it MB,” said the air at her shoulder.  “But getting in might be hard, look.”

“Optic have you forgotten I can’t-oh god.”  Val took a step back.  “Riot, another riot. Back to the jet, get the kids to safety, riot, oh god ohgod ohgodohgodoh-” G slapped her.

“Are you nuts,” hissed her girlfriend as Sarah cooled the air around Val’s cheek.

“It works in soap operas!”

“She was flashing back to a buried trauma,” said Mindee.  “We’ve got it under control now.  Are you ok, Miss Logan?”

“Yeah.  That wasn’t fun.”

“Neglecting psychological injury never is,” said Sophie sternly.  “You should talk to the Professor about this.”

“When we’re back home.”  Val sighed.  “We still need a way past that.  It looks like a protest.”

“Counter protest,” chorused Sarah and G.

“We see them do this at the funerals of out soldiers and stuff,” said G.  “They show up early to stop the real protesters from saying nasty stuff to the families.  I recognize this one, what’s the name?”

“This is the FGF.  Fullerton Group for Freedom.  The founder is over there.” Sarah pointed.  “Christopher Kittridge.  They won’t get violent, just preventative.”

“Preventive’s the last thing we need,” moaned Johnny.  “Can’t Optic just pants Kittridge?”

“Nobody is pantsing Marlowe,” Val said as she got a better look.  Four years had done well by him, and he was back to using his birth name, so his family stuff must be getting better.  She’d been too busy raising Gar to really dig into why he didn’t get along with his family and aside from some sporadic emails and phone calls on each other’s birthdays they didn’t keep too close.

“Marlowe?” asked Sarah.

“His name in high-school.  Can team telepath please gently suggest that everyone but him get interested in something that’s not us?”

Trusting her students, she took a breath and smoothed out her wide legged pants.  They’d been a compromise between the mobility of pants and the look of a long skirt.  They, and her top were the same blue as the training suits (partially because the tank top was a part of her training outfit), but she had added a knitted ombre duster to disguise the durable and form-fitted top.

Val walked up to Marlowe.  It was a big leap, to hope after all this time he’d know and trust her like he did before.

“Heya Marzipan.”

“Who in the?  Valentine?”

“Yup.  FGF huh?” she smirked at him, remembering the Free Gar Fund.

“I thought you lived in New York?”

“Yeah, Westchester.  I need a favor.  The kids and I need to get inside.”

“You want to go to an anti-mutant church?  With impressionable kids?  You aren’t Val.”

“I’m wearing the lucky Cactuar earrings you bought me when I was 13, and Gar was five.  I’m me.  I’m also in need of a favor, because someone in that church done fudged up bad.  They hurt my friends, they hurt my boyfriend, and they hurt _Gar_.  You know how that ends.”

“With black eyes, bloody noses and five layers of concealer before you go home?”

“I’m a little more proficient these days.  And the kids aren’t half bad.  Notice how none of your friends are noticing, well, anything?”

“Mutants,” Marlowe said in understanding.  “Not visible ones.”

“Buddy you got no idea,” said Sam from Marlowe’s elbow.  The man jerked about trying to find the voice.

“Sa-Optic, you’re going to get hit in the face if you keep doing that ,” said Melinda.

“Veeeeritaaaas,” Sam whined.

“She’s right.  One day somebody’s going to smack you and you will get no sympathy from me.  Now apologize.”

“Sorry about scaring you with my mutation, that was mean and I won’t do it again,” Sam dutifully recited.  “Are we going in or not MB?  Cuckoo and Kid Omega can only do this so long before it stops looking random.”  Marlowe mouthed ‘MB?’ at her.

“Short for Momma Bear.  We a go?  I need to get my kid’s Psych teacher out of a cell and I am on a clock here.  Gar has a paper due next Friday.”

“You’re a go.  Signal if you need help.”

“Will do Marzipan.  Optic, go on in, Veritas, get the others ready and let team Telepath know they can cool it.”

Marlowe, once again the unflappable and charismatic Christopher Kittridge, told his friends to let the kids in.  As the second identical blonde passed him she said, “A little yelling is ok,” another, in blue instead of yellow finished, “we have thick skins.”  “You have to when you’re us,” said the fourth, picking at her green skirt like she was adjusting a belt. “They’re right, it’s getting noticed,” said a kid with faintly purple hair.  Christopher motioned to the people near him to up the prevention a little.

With just enough resistance, the group cleared the ring in ones and twos before heading into the church itself.  The building was a converted factory, redone with stained glass in the windows high on the tall walls, and a dais at the front held a hardwood pulpit and seating for a choir.  The pews were almost half full, but newcomers were apparently enough of an oddity to warrant the minister coming down to greet them.

“Hello, how nice to see new faces,” he said kindly.  “And so many young people!  So many youth today fall into vice and sin and moral corruption.  It’s the internet, blocking us off from our brothers and sisters under God.  I’m Brother Eli, are you from another congregation Miss…?”

“Bärin.  Val Bärin.  I’m actually a teacher, and these are my students.  We’re studying the philosophical and theological ramifications of the emergence of…uniquely powered individuals in the wake of events like the Liberty Island attack and the Battle of New York.  You appear to have an interesting take and I wanted the kids to have a chance to do primary research for their Term Papers.”

“Ah, I see,” said Brother Eli.  “A bit young, aren’t they?”

“I have six of the top twelve IQ’s in the world in my class.  Cy speaks twenty seven languages,” she said, gesturing at Doug.

“Twenty eight if you’re counting the dead ones, I got bored and picked up Norse.  I can’t speak it but I can read it.”

“Oh, really?  That will be helpful on the paper you planned on how Thor being an alien effects world religions.  Anyway, Quincy memorized Beowulf in the original old English because of a bet, and I’m not even going to go into the number of honorary doctorates Skye, Medea, Athena and Kelly have.  And the others are keeping up just fine, because there’s more than one way to be smart.”

“I agree, the Lord in His wisdom has provided us many paths to further His creation, Mankind.  And although you may not have entered this holy place as believers, I don’t doubt that such bright young people will see the truth in our teachings.”

Val and her students sat near the back, and the sermon began.  It was a quiet and easily ignorable drone from the filters the Cuckoos and Kid Omega put up.  But slowly it became more understandable, and Val started feeling ill.  The words were not ones she ever would agree with, but she was nodding, and not just to blend in.  The minister called for an ‘Amen’ and Quin gave him one, along with most of the congregation.  Melinda dropped out of her seat and crawled over to Val.

“He’s using powers.  Look at the Cuckoos.”  The four girls looked sick and Sophie was rubbing her temple.  “Look at Kid Omega.”  Quin had dropped the look of concentration he’d had earlier and his eyes were manic.  “You’re all being affected, but I’m not so it’s powers.”

“Good job, Veritas,” Val whispered.  “Get Quin out of here, he’s in the worst shape.  Take him outside and let Marlowe handle it.”

The girl nodded and brushed a strand of curly hair out of her face.  She grabbed Quin’s arm and looked at him intently.  His eyes met hers and anger flashed there for a second, before understanding, horror and then anger, but he was now glaring at the pulpit.  She yanked his arm and they left quietly.

The sermon wrapped up, and the congregation moved to a side parlor to mingle over Oreos and watery punch.  “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid,” whispered Johnny to the Cuckoos.  They really needed the giggle after holding the effects of the super-powered sermon off of the others.  Sam tugged lightly at Val’s sleeve.

“Optic reporting in.  We have a heavily guarded door at the back of a supply closet.  Three guys, security lock, the kit and the caboodle.”

“Cameras?” Val asked softly.

“Not that I saw, but a lot of the security was designed to blend in.”

“Let Trix know he needs to keep ‘us’ here while we check it out.  Ask the Cuckoos what they feel up to.”

“On it MB.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Tumblr: bairnside.tumblr.com
> 
> Aaaaand, I went nuts on Polyvore. Oops?
> 
> Val's outfit http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=197405283  
> Phoebe's 'outfit' http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=197405442  
> Celeste's 'outfit' http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=197405497  
> Mindee's 'outfit' http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=197405544  
> Sophie's 'outfit' http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=197405582


	21. Breaking In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a group of high school students somehow manage to break into a super-proof facility and time travel shenanigans result in the oddest rescue in X Men history. In this timeline, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Maniph, kamiccolo, ratherbereading125 and anyone else I missed.
> 
> ALSO: Please note I now have a standing policy with regards to OC's. Make me fan art/vids/drabbles/etc of any of my work and you can name/design an OC. I need lots of mutant OC's for the next chapter and you can help speed me along by making fanwork of the fanwork to claim the right to name an OC. Naruturd already has made art for this, so send me your favorite name and any details you'd like to include. You may enter into this by gifting a work on Ao3, or tagging me in a post on tumblr telling me where to find it.

Johnny kept all the illusions of the team going, and Celeste and Sophie opted to stay with him to bolster the illusions, and give them the ability to talk to people.  Phoebe and Mindee came with the team headed to the secret room.  The storage closet slash guardroom was well disguised, without Optic’s scouting Val never would have known there were people or a second door on the other side of the heavily laden shelf at the back.  Peering through a gap in the paper towel stash that was blocking the view, she counted three men and four of the bulky all-plastic dart guns that delivered the ‘Cure’ a thing she had been glad was developed and then destroyed after she had gotten Gar out.  Chenoweth had been isolated, but even then she’d heard about the weaponized version and how the mass public outrage had nearly destroyed Worthington Labs.  Despite the preaching, she knew those guns would not hold a ‘cure’ for anything but free will.

“We’re missing someone.  Three men, four guns,” she whispered.

“Maybe someone’s ambidextrous,” suggested Doug.

“Four piles of poker chips.”

“So we’re missing someone.  I doubt they came out this way,” said Jubes.

“They didn’t,” the two Cuckoos chorused.  “The leader went to the bathroom and the man nearest us is thinking about taking his chips.  He doesn’t think the others will approve.  He’s correct.”

“Can you convince him he isn’t?”

Without speaking the two sisters smiled identical sickly sweet smiles and the sounds of an argument came through the barrier.

“Wondra, the second Optic opens this wall, target the guns, you do not want the stuff in there in you.”

Jubes nodded.

“The flashes should distract them, so that’s when they engage, close your eyes while the fireworks are going off, you’ll be less blinded than they are.”

The group nodded in varying levels of grim determination.  Val was struck by how young her team was.  High school kids.  And here they were, ready to storm the freaking beaches of Normandy.  She thought about what the Professor had said about the Strykers and open war, and she wondered if he believed it too.

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;  
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me  
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,  
This day shall gentle his condition;  
And gentlemen in England now a-bed  
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,  
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks  
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.”

“Henry the Fifth, Act IV Scene iii 59–67,” said Kendrick.

“Ten points to Ravenclaw,” Val joked.

“Let’s do this thing,” said G.

“Alright, Optic, you’re on.”

The wall started to slide back, then after a foot of movement, slid into the left side wall.  Without prompting, Jubes blasted the three men’s guns into piles of half melted plastic scrap.  Prime hit the nearest one with an uppercut that laid him out, Redirect took a hit to the gut with a Taser before smiling and shocking his attacker with twice that, and Floater was annoying a guard by launching rubber bands at him while Optic and Index took turns striking at him.  He turned to swat at the general area Optic had been in just as Index shot out a side-kick that should have hit his thigh, but instead hit somewhere else as was evidenced by the way he turned green and fell down.  Cypher put him out cold with a pressure point on his neck.

Val gestured to the heavy looking steel security door and its encryption lock.

“Think you can sweet talk the door, Cypher?”

“Oh yeah, Miss Pryde’s been teaching me security runarounds and that’s no-powers,” he said as he lay a hand on the key pad.  “Come to papa.”

“Why is Kitty teaching you cyber-crime?”

“She lost a bet to Mr. Gambit.”

“Figures.”

The door opened with a hissing sound.

“That wasn’t me,” Doug said, panicked.

“Our fourth player.  Positions!”

The man emerged, started at the sight of nine people, eight of them high school students in blue body armor and one angry looking woman in a nice blue dress and knitted purple duster.  Being slightly smarter than his colleagues, he slapped a security button on the inside of the air-lock before moving to engage.  Prime moved to intercept but the man crumpled to the ground.

“We’re wasting time,” said the Cuckoos.  “Literally.  He activated a time alarm.  We need all four guard’s bio signs, awake and well on this side to undo the heat sensors and laser grid.  We don’t have that, so we need to get to the keypad other side of the airlock without touching any of the 25 invisible and moving lasers on the floor or our body heat causing the room to go above 7 degrees Celsius,”

“In standard, please,” Val interrupted as an idea formed

“About 50 degrees. And we have four minutes to do it.”

“Index, I think that room needs some AC, cool it down a bit.”  Sarah smiled at her role and soon the airlock was emitting fine vapor trails.  “Floater, think you can carry Cypher?”

G eyed him.  “Yup.”  She hooked her arms under his armpits and carried them across the room, holding him mere inches above certain detection as he worked.  The tension was thick and the two Cuckoos counting down didn’t help.  One minute seven seconds from the deadline, Cypher patted Floater and she set down.  The group quickly moved through the airlock, and more than one jumped when the door behind them closed.  The door into the base opened with a click, and all ten people sighed in relief.  They headed down the stairs and into Jason Stryker’s headquarters.

The base itself was circular, a line of curving walk way encircling the whole thing, and staircases leading into certain areas that were, apart from the walkways, blocked off.  One walk way led to the center, and an elevator shaft.  Val looked up at the domed ceiling covered in dull metal plates and recalled the images of the bastardized Cerebro unit in the file.  Unsettled, she crept along the wall, looking for prisoners.  The kids followed, and she suppressed the urge to tell them to stay put.  They were stronger as a team, and it’s not like they’d listen.

Circling to the left brought them over the labs.  Vials and beakers were arrayed near complicated machinery, and banks of computers.  Lab coat wearing henchpeople hovered over cryptic devices and fiddled with nobs and monitoring dials and print-outs.  It all looked very scientific and important, but Val had absolutely no clue what it all was. “Cuckoos, get the staff out of there, but do it slowly, so it seems normal, sudden bathroom needs, forgot something they need to go find, you get the idea.  Cypher, Wondra, I’m going to need you two to wait until they’re all gone, go in, Cypher, you get all the files you can off the computers.  I’m sure they have flash drives or something. Then, when I give the signal, Wondra will blow everything important as high as it goes.  Let the Cuckoos tell you if you’ve missed anything dangerous to leave lying about.”

“What’s the signal?” Jubes asked.

“Running like the wind, screaming, the usual exit strategy.”

“Got it.  Blow stuff up, I can do that.”  Jubilee sounded kind of down about her role.  Val put a hand on her arm and grinned at the teen.

“Hey, just light up the lot,” Val said, quoting a favorite song of Jubilee’s.

“Well, nobody rocks the way I rock,” answered Jubes, much happier looking.

One of the Cuckoos stayed behind to make sure that any lab henchperson leaving by the stairways wouldn’t notice Jubes and Doug.  The other followed the rest of them, as Val kept going.  They reached a section that seemed devoted to autopsy, and Val rushed them past it quickly, trying not to lose her lunch.  Some things should never be seen, and internal organs were on that list.  The next section had a sedated man, naked save for boxers and obviously malnourished in a machine that looked like an over-sized MRI.  His head and upper torso were obscured, but Val could see lots of bright colors on the screen the scientist was looking at.

“Safe or not?” she whispered to the Cuckoo.  The girl tilted her head somewhat mechanically.

“Subject 16, kinetic energy blasts, resistant to both serum and classical conditioning, not mentally stable, alternates between believing it to be 1973, and knowing the real year.”  Val remembered Logan using 73 as a reference to _something_ , but what she had no idea.  It was possible this man had gotten mixed up in whatever it was too.  “His telomeres are mutated and _not_ from the X-gene mutation.  Trace amounts of tachyon particles were found in his blood.”

“Getting a little robotic there, Cuckoo,” muttered Prime.

“Pardon me if keeping in touch with three other parts of myself all of whom have their own missions makes it hard to be personable!” snapped Mindee.

“Leave Cuckoo alone, Prime.  She’s doing her best,” G said as she patted the once-again Cuckoo’s arm.

“He’s not mind-controlled at least,” said Sarah as she looked at him.  “Do we free him?”

“He’s nuts,” said Prime.

“You know I don’t allow talk like that.  And aside from possible mental illness, he’s innocent.  We free him.  Take out the lab-coat. Floater, you and Redirect help me get him out of that thing, the rest of you, keep watch.”

Prime slid down the rail of the stairs, decked the man at the screen and took up a defensive position in the time it took for Floater, arms around Redirect and Val, to get them to the machine.  G’s small, deft fingers took no time unlatching the table from the machine and Kendrick slid it out as she undid the restraints on his torso and arms.  As soon as he was clear of the strange MRI device, the man sat up and fired a blast of red energy at Kendrick.

“I won’t let you take me, Trask!!  I won’t end up like Angel or Emma or Riptide or Banshee or Azazel, or any of the others.”

Prime moved to knock the man unconscious, but Val stopped him.

“Redirect, you alright?  You’re kinda… glowy.”  Swirling trails of glowing red light traced complex patterns on his shaved head.

“Nah, I’m fine Momma Bear, just took a lot of power in one shot.  The power will come in handy later, I’m sure.”

“Good.  Just so you know, mister, if you’d hit any of my kids like that other than the one who can use that power, you’d be in a multiverse of hurt, get a lawnmower cause you know what's grass.  Now, you interested in a rescue, or do I have the linebacker with super-strength hit you unconscious?  I’d use the telepath to put you under gently, but they’re kinda overloaded and as I said, you hit my kid.  They don’t call me Momma Bear for no reason.”

“Mutants?” he asked.

“Moooostly…” Val said cautiously.  He raised an eyebrow at her and it reminded her of Scott when a student was being evasive.  “There are mutants, yes, but I’m not telling you more than that until you prove that you won’t hurt us.  You blasted Redirect in the face with a, what, thermo-kenetic blast wave?”

“How’d you know?” he asked, shocked.

“I know someone with similar powers.  You remind me of him, actually.”

“Huh,” said G.  “He does look like Mister Summer’s younger brother.”

“My name’s Alex Summers, but I don’t have an older brother, I have a younger one.  _Had_ a younger one.  Scott.”

“Huh.”  Val walked up to the stairs, and called up. “Check him for lies, delusions and inaccuracy.”

“He’s clean,” called down Sam.  Cuckoo must be in rough shape not to respond.  That didn’t change the fact that their rescued mutant was Scott’s brother.

“Scott Summers is a teacher at a school.  I teach there too.  Come with us and we’ll get you back to him.”

Alex hopped off the table and staggered a bit.  Prime handed him the lab coat from the still unconscious scientist.  The mostly naked man took it gratefully as they climbed back towards the walkway.  There was some confusion at first as Alex tried to settle into the idea he was being rescued by teens.

"I was at least old enough to vote when I did this crap," he muttered, gaining an angry look from Val.

“We’re only a third done, let’s move it, people,” Val ordered, and the group slunk onward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr: http://bairnsidhe.tumblr.com/
> 
> Jube's favorite song is Rock What You Got by Superchick, she 'borrowed' some of Val's music and then discovered a love of ninety's Girl Power Rock. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJODylEVSa0 )
> 
> Also, yes, I brought Havok back into current continuum. He's the one from First Class and the first bit of Days of Future Past. Scott grew up in the more Evo-verse version, thinking his older brother died. Logan's little trip is going to have consequences in the wibbley-wobbly timey-wimey stuff.


	22. Next Floor, Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rescuing begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! This one's for JBadgr, who binge-read this monstrosity.
> 
> If you haven't seen, I'm having money trouble, and while you can't buy happiness you can buy medicinal aid, and MommaSidhe and I both need that. If you go to my Patreon link below, and pledge even a little, I'd love that. My decrepit immune system and damaged vestibular system would love that. My muses would be very happy with you.

They found a few more labs, either unoccupied or in the process of autopsy, before they hit the detention levels.  A pale, thin girl with white-blonde hair and cyanotic blue lips sat stone still, curled in on herself  in a glass walk in freezer.  As soon as she lifted her glassy blue eyes to look at them Index was moving even before Cuckoo said go.

“Ruth?”  The painful hope in her voice was too much for Val’s heart.

“Huh?”  The girl sluggishly stood up, and whoa, not a girl a full on woman full on naked.

“Boys look away,” ordered Val.  Strangely even Alex did so.

“That’s my sister, Momma Bear.  We need to get her out.”

“We will, but carefully.  Cuckoo, status?”

“Subject 52, cryokinetic, ectothermic, cold cell to limit power use.  Taken by mistake after posing as a medium.  Not to be released or used.  Clean.”

“Index, warm her up, Floater, help me unplug this thing.  We need to raise her core temp slowly; ectotherms are sensitive to rapid warming.”

“Are you their Professor?” asked Alex.

“Teacher, no degree,” Val said absently.

“I mean, when I was their age, I fought like this for my professor, and he knew a lot about mutants, and you know what an ectotherm is….”

“My baby brother can turn into a python, I know the scientific term for cold blooded, and that it isn’t safe to do fast temp changes.  One round of vomiting was enough, thanks.  She looks like she’s in torpor right now, warming her too fast will hurt her organs.”

Ruth was extracted, her clothing located in a box, and Index and Floater helped her dress.  Val shrugged off the blazer and had Redirect lightly dust it in sparks of static.

“The energy in this should help keep your core up.  I must say, cryokinesis and ectothermy sounds like a bad combination.”

“I’m not _cryo_ -kinetic,” Ruth said.  “They messed up the files.  I’m a heat thief.  I take heat from stuff and make it cold.  It’s how I survived the cold blooded thing.  Gave Mom frostbite when I hugged her after my powers came out.”

“That’s why you left?  Mom and Dad wouldn’t have been mean about it, they would have gotten you help.  Figured out how to keep you safe until you could use it.” 

“I was scared I’d hurt someone, _that’s_ why I left.  And I learned to control it on my own just fine.  I was raising money to come home by giving people the chills for thrills at a carnival when they took me.  They mistook convincing people ghosts were touching them by chilling the air for psychic powers, which was what I was advertising, I guess.”

“You mean, y-you’re a thermo-kinetic?  Like me?”

“You’re a mutant Sarah?”

“Hells to the yeah she is,” said G, then looked at Val.  “Sorry, MB  I’ll try not to again."  She looked back at Ruth.  "Index can control the temperature of all the air in any room she’s in.  Doesn’t work outside, but she and Storm are working on it.”

“Index?”

“Like the heat index on the forecasts,” Sarah explained as they moved to the next cell, holding a wide tube of liquid with a lanky blonde wearing a re-breather inside.  Tubes and wires sprouted from his body, suspending his unconscious form.  “Who’s in there?”  She pointed the tube.

“Subject…” Cuckoo trailed off.  Val moved to support her.  “Nitro, his name is Nitro and he wants to get rid of his powers.  He blows everything around him up, every few months.  Uncontrollable fire.  Stasis tubes help, but he can feel it starting, the heat building.  He doesn’t want to hurt anyone.  He's screaming it.  He says it’s ok to kill him.  Dying is better than hurting people.”

“Ruth, you said you can steal heat and I'm sure you aren't warm yet.  He’s got too much heat.  Think you can turn this thing into a deep freeze?  With powers like that, it won’t kill him, but it sure would slow it down more, maybe until a better extraction.  I’m not okay with killing, and I’m not okay letting anyone else do it.”

“I can handle that.”  She put her hand on the glass.  “And it’s Freezerburn, when I’m active.”

The fluid formed frost crystals, and then went opaque.  After a few minutes Freezerburn pulled back her hand.  “If I take more, the excess heat will impact my ability to function.  He’s inside the ice up to the skin, but he isn’t iced himself.  That's moth and flame territory.  He might still go off, but two feet of ice should dampen things.”

“Good enough.  Can you tell him we did what we could, Cuckoo?”  Cuckoo nodded.

On that less than cheerful note, they found the third cell in this wedge.  Plexiglas bars and thick plastic shackles gave Val a pretty good idea of her powers, since she hadn't been under a rock when the Liberty Island attack was made public.  The girl's hair was the color Gar’s got when he stayed in the sun too long, and she was just as underfed as Alex and Ruth.

“Lorna!”  Alex yelled.  Val just looked at Cuckoo who nodded.

“Prime, rip out the bars,” she ordered.  Prime was happy to do so.

Lorna didn’t seem to know Alex, but she was plenty happy to be carried by the handsome and shirtless man.  It was another layer of the mystery around him.

They rescued a dozen or so other non-telepathic mutants from that level before going back to the stairs.  Val made sure they knew they could go back to the main exit point, and some did, including Alex and Lorna.  Some didn’t, like the black kid covered in bone growths, or the rainbow colored girl who insisted the gothic-dressed girl take a twelve year old back to the gate.  The twelve year-old was putting up quite the fight with her super-strength.  Prime knelt down.

“What’s your name?” he asked her calmly.  She swung at him and he caught her fist.  “Rude.  What’s your name?”  She tugged but couldn’t free herself.  Finally she stopped and sighed.

“Molly.”

“I’m Eugene.”  Simultaneously all of Val’s Bear Cubs (the name had been decided on the way back as a way to keep the former captives calm) mouthed ‘Eugene?’ at each other.  “You’re pretty strong.”

“Yeah,” Molly said.  “That’s why I gotta go get Chase and Gert.”

“No, that’s why you gotta go back to the gate and keep my friends Cuckoo, Cypher and Wondra safe.  The bad guys here can mess with someone's mind and make them do bad stuff and I won’t hurt them, even if I have to.  You will.  Because I’ll need you to.  Because they’d want you to, and you don’t know them enough to be too afraid of hurting them to help them.”

“So I’m helping?”  She relaxed and Prime let go of her hand.

“Yeah Molly.  We need a bruiser to handle the rough stuff that might happen.”

She saluted.  “Call-sign Bruiser, ready for action.”

“Call-sign Prime, accepting volunteer,” he replied.  “Look out for the Cuckoo over there, would you?  Splitting up is hurting them.”  The girl nodded, and Prime turned back to Val and the Cubs with narrowed eyes.  “Say a word about my name and I swear….”

“Your _name_ is Prime,” was all Val had to say about about that.  “Bear Cubs move out.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Things got worse in the next detention zone.  There were more mutants Cuckoo said couldn’t be saved than those who could.  More mutants Val knew they couldn’t take with them, with how badly hurt they were than those who could walk or even be carried.  More mutants who followed them with a minimum of trust.  More close calls with her kids encountering spooked prisoners.  Spike, the eighteen year old with bone-plates started taking the lead on opening stasis tubes because of the number of mutants that came out swinging, and the fact that it took more than most of them had to hurt him through the growths.  Almost all of them had mental powers of some sort, but no telepaths, including no Dani.  A blonde boy was pretty obviously techno-something, pathic or kinetic, as he came out of his tube and immediately slammed Spike and Redirect with the electrified wall panel that had to be removed to hot wire the stasis tube to open it.

“I’ll take you all on!  I’m not going down without a fight, now where’s Gert?”

“Haven’t found her yet,” Val said dryly.  She made an educated guess.  “You done having that temper tantrum  yet, Chase?”

“How…”  His query was interrupted by a huge leaping hug filled with prismatic light from the rainbow girl.

“Yo, Karolina, turn it down a notch,” hissed Redirect.  “You ain’t Dazzler and this isn’t Vegas.  Infiltrations are not the time to go Lucy in the Sky on us.”  It didn’t surprise Val at all that Kendrick had learned her name.

“Sorry.”  The light dimmed dramatically.  “Guys, this is Chase, he’s a technopath, Chase, these are the Bear Cubs, and they’re rescuing us.”

“I’m the Momma Bear in case you missed it," Val said, crossing her arms.  "Now apologize to Spike and Redirect for hitting them and I _won’t_ show you why they call me that.”

“Sorry, guys.  I thought it was more goons.  They take my blood every so often.”

“Subject 39 is immune to all serums,” whispered Cuckoo, the first peep out of her this whole level, having mostly just nodded or shook her head when asked a question.  “But his platelets are beneficial in the manufacture of Serum Omega.”

“That’s not creepy at all,” Chase said.

“Kindly shut your mouth before I shut it for you,” said Prime a little too politely, in that way that also sounds angry.  “Cuckoo is going through a lot.  She’s tapped into more than normal, and I bet it’s all bad.”

“Two lab technicians are having mutual pining and lust, that’s kind of funny,” said Cuckoo weakly.  “Sophie is having fun watching it.”

“Besides,” said Karolina, “Some of our best friends have powers that look like witchcraft and a pet dinosaur.  Where do we get off drawing the creep line?”

“Fair.”

“Alright, if you’re coming with, we’ve cleared this section and will be moving on, if not take the path to the left when exiting.”

“Oh, I’m coming with.  Unless… they didn’t find Gert, did they?”

“No, just Molly, Nico and me.  Molly is back at the exit with the others, Nico is watching her.”

“Technically, Bruiser is watching everybody else,” said Prime.  “It was the only way to get her to stay behind.”

“Good call.  I was in some of the labs in the ‘deluxe’ portion of this hell.  Not a place we want half-pint seeing.”

“Can you lead us there?” Val asked.  Chase nodded.  “After you, then.”

Those mutants they could save trooped along the path to safety, the Cuckoo there already aware of what her other bodies saw.  A few of the more gung-ho mutants from the first section went with them, ostensibly as guards and supports for the weaker ones, but really it was the emotional strain of how many were too far gone to save.  Val knew this place was going to feature heavily in her nightmares for the foreseeable future, and she didn't blame them a bit for not wanting to see the next circle of this particular Dante-esque Inferno.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Patreon: http://patreon.com/bairnsidhe
> 
> Tumblr: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com
> 
> Yes, I brought in the Runaways, but I made them all mutants because their backstories are all too hard to work in. Just go with it.


	23. Frying Pan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val and the Bear Cubs get to their goal, but escape isn't as simple as they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for descriptions of mad science evil villain shit. Nothing horribly detailed, but still icky. Also, cremation, if that's a squick, be prepared.
> 
> This one's for the person who asked why I was making Quire good. You know who you are. Now ask yourself if the name of the chapter is foreboding.

In the final section there were very few mutants.  Val didn’t know if that was worrying or reassuring.  Cuckoo shook her head on two, a vaguely purple man on several machines that appeared to be keeping him alive and unconscious, and a white-blond beauty made of crystal.  Cuckoo whined a bit in her throat when she saw the crystal woman, but otherwise stayed silent as they freed three other telepaths, whom Val directed out of the section and back to the entrance.

The next part would be hardest of all.  Val had gotten a pretty good look at the layout up on the walkways.  The only ways into the only part left were the elevator and the door at the end of the hall.  It was the only section she couldn’t see inside.  Flying blind and headed into something she didn’t need Ackbar to tell her was totally a trap.  But they hadn’t found Dani, and they hadn’t found Gert.  So Val wasn’t stopping and neither were Karolina or Chase.  That meant the team was going too, thinned though it was.  Prime and Redirect bracketed Index and Floater, who were holding hands.  Frezerburn backed her sister, and Karolina stood behind Redirect, and Chase was next to her behind Floater.  Val assumed Optic was behind Prime, as Cuckoo stood at her right.  Taking a deep breath, she opened the door into something beyond her worst nightmares.

Tanks of mutants in stasis lined one wall.  Autopsy tables the other.  And the third wall held a cage of crackling energy.  Inside was a girl about G’s age, with soft purple hair showing brown roots.  From the intakes of breath she assumed that was Gert.  But what held her eyes was the machine, like an angled table with a hair-dryer hood, and Dani strapped in, with IV drips running a pale yellow fluid into her arms and hands.

“Dani,” she whispered.  She turned to Cuckoo.

“Miss Moonstar is fighting it.  And very strong.  There’s time.”  It was the loudest Cuckoo had spoken since the outburst at Prime.

“Mindee?” Dani asked weakly.  She tried to raise her head, but the helmet thing stopped her.  “Val.  I can feel your fears.  I can hold on, help the girl.  Help Arsenic.”

Val nodded.  Dani knew her limits.  “Redirect, drain the cage.”

“I don’t know, I have a lot left over from the hit earlier.”

“Then ash the bodies first.  They deserve better than we can give but we can let them get away from these monsters in death.”

Lightning struck ten bodies at once, the voltage frying them so quickly there wasn’t even a smell left behind other than hot metal and ozone.  Redirect grabbed the bars of the energy cage and drained them enough for the girl to slip out and run to Chase.

“Knew you’d get me, Talkback.”

“For my Arsenic, every time.  Now let’s help the people who helped us.”

They unhooked Dani from the machine, Chase (or Talkback, Val wasn’t sure if that was a nickname or a call-sign) and Arsenic helping to hold her up as she wobbled on her feet.

“She got between me and him,” Arsenic told them.  “Convinced him she was more valuable.”

“I’m tough,” said Dani.  “You weren’t trained to withstand…that.”

“Thank you,” said Karolina gratefully.

“It is I who must thank you,” said a wheezing male voice.  Jason Stryker rolled up in his chair, a parody of the Professor’s.  This obsession ran kinda deep, Val noted.

“For ruining your plans?” she asked.  “I don’t think you normally thank people for stealing your toys.”

“Stealing, no, but a trade….”

“What’s your game, Stryker?”

“MY NAME’S NOT STRYKER!!” he screamed.  “I’M NOT HIM, MY NAME IS MINDMASTER”

“I thought Mastermind was based in Arizona?” Redirect stage whispered to Prime.

“Maybe he’s dyslexic.”  Prime shrugged.  “Wouldn’t surprise me if he was off in the brain.”

“What have we said about how we talk about people with learning difficulties?” Val asked him sternly while winking to let him know she’d caught the game they were running.

“He has a mad science lab in the basement of a Church of Hate and Intolerance.  Something isn’t wired right up there.”

“I _meant_ comparing Blastermind over there to dyslexics.”

“Oh.  Yeah.  Sorry.”

“So, Stryker, what’s the ‘ebil plan of ebil diabolicalness’ today?”

“It’s MindMaster,” he seethed.

“Jeeze, he always like this?” Talkback asked Arsenic.

“Basically.  Total control freak.”

“Oh, Alex 2.0, gotcha.”

“Cut the chit chat, Talkback.  So, ControlFreak, what trade are you talking here?”

“You brought me one of the five greatest telepaths in the world.  That girl will usher in a new age for mutants.”

“Yeah, the field trip permission slip says I’m not allowed to sell the children, sorry,” Val snarked.  “Cuckoo stays put.”

“It’s too late.”  Stryker pulled another plastic dart gun and shot at Cuckoo, who collapsed a second before Karolina threw up a wall of rainbow light.  “She’s mine now, all that rage and pain will consume her, and she will do as I say, since only I can give her relief.  She will take your minds and the Cuckoo will live up to her name.”  He laughed maniacally and the whirring sound told Val he was going back into the elevator.

“Talkback, can you lock him in?”

“Done.  There’s a music system in there too, want to make a request?”

“Here,” G said, handing him her I-Pod.  “Play the Salt and Pepper Torture playlist on repeat.”

“This is literally just seventy copies of _What’s New Pussycat_ ,” he said.

“Technically,” added Sarah, “There is also one _It’s Not Unusual_ , thirty in.  I added it.”

“You are evil and I kinda love you, but I’m taken.”

“So am I and you aren’t my type,” she said, kissing G’s palm.

“The music is now annoying him enough he isn’t thinking of stopping us,” said Cuckoo.  “All personnel are neutralized.  If Prime would be so good as to grab my Aunt Emma on the way out, we can go.”

“How can we,” Val started, “and I mean this lovingly, trust you after you got hit by a mind control drug designed to target telepaths?”

“Because of this,” she pointed to a feathered dart sticking out of thin air in front of her.  “Sam took the hit and I took the pratfall.”

“Sam?”  Val reached for a shoulder she couldn’t see, hit hip and worked upwards.  “Sam, you OK?”

“Five more minutes M‘linda.”

“Sam, wake up.”

“I’m up.”

“How do you feel?”

“Like I have a dart in my left pec.  It work?”

“Yup,” Mindee said.  “Phoebe got the other telepaths to knock out the workers, Doug has everything he needs, and all prisoners are being filed out via the back hall you found.  We can go.”

Val looked at her.

“Do you really think a guy whose power is ultimately just really effective lying would think a super strong telepath would break so easily unless he _saw_ her getting weaker?  Good thing I had a good acting coach.  Phoebe just stayed away from cameras, since we don't like people thinking that all of us have powers  One Cuckoo in the nest is enough.”

“Alright, let’s go.  You said bring the woman?  I thought she was a no.”

“She’s heavy in that mode, we can only take her on the way out.”

“And the man?”

“Evil.”

“Fair.”

As they left, Prime scooped up the crystal woman, Emma, and Val helped Dani walk.  Mindee nudged Redirect as they left the stairs.  He nodded and electrified the railings.  As they got to the entrance, Dani moved faster, as did Mindee.

“What’s the rush?” asked Karolina.

“Nitro just shared he’s gonna blow,” said Pheobe as she ran to meet them.  “Sky high.”

“Dammit,” Val swore.

“We just get clear, I don’t care if this place burns,” said Gert.

“We’re under an anti-mutant church.  What do you think the spin will be if a mutant blows it up?” G asked sarcastically.

“Get me wifi.” Chase was suddenly very on task, instead of reassuring himself of his girlfriend’s safety.

“Sat phone,” Val said handing it over.  “But we’re mostly shielded.  Faraday cage, fragile, but in the ceiling.”  She pointed up at the high dome.

“Not for long,” said Kendrick.  “Karolina, now is when you go Lucy in the Sky.”

“Thought you’d never ask,” she said as she blasted prismatic light at him and he shocked the whole ceiling.

“I’ve got signal, and now half the internet knows there’s a drug factory down here.  It’ll explain the explosion and any lab stuff that survives.  The hashtag Hate, Intolerance, and Drugs is trending.”

“I’m not even mad I didn’t get to blow stuff up,” said Jubes as they sprinted across the airlock.  “Some shit’s gone down.”

“SOPHIE!” screamed Mindee and Phoebe in unison before taking off like rockets.

“One fight to another,” sighed Val.  “Get the injured to Blackbird,” she told Prime, Floater, Index and Redirect.  Strangely Karolina, Nico, Molly, Chase and Gert started helping too.

“Optic, find Veritas, Cypher, find Kid Omega. Wondra, find Trix.  I’m assuming the Cuckoo’s nest is reforming now.  Dani, we need to clear out the protesters outside.  You up for it?”

“I’m hurt, exhausted, dehydrated, starving and _just_ got out of torture.  Why wouldn’t I be?”  She smiled.  “My powers are emotional.  And I am the never-ending gift basket of emotions right now.  Lets roll.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, a cliff hanger. *runs from forming mob*


	24. Fires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If it's not one disaster it's two. Or three.

Cypher met them at the door, holding up one half of Veritas’s weight, the other was obviously being held by Optic, since her arm dangled at a right angle consistent with being draped around a neck.

“KO is not on our side right now,” Cypher said.  “It’s parent’s day all over again.”

“Say what?”

“Quin had _issues_ ,” Dani said, “to put it mildly.  He got fixated on Sophie and getting more power.  I later heard that Esme had something to do with it, pushing on him mentally.  But he lost it on parent visiting day last year.  Took the whole school hostage, kidnapped Sophie…he was getting better!  I don’t know what could have….”

“Esme psychic?”

“The other Cuckoo, so yeah,” Cypher provided.

“So was the preacher, could his pushing have regressed Quin?”

“Shit,” said Cypher.  “I’m not apologizing for that one, MB.  We walked right into that.  We knew it was risky for the psys and we took a psy we knew had problems, we messed up.  And we can’t fix it.  The only thing that stopped him last time was Soph’s Aunt being there on parents day and shutting him down.”

“Hot blonde named Emma?”

“Yeeeaaah….”

“At the Blackbird, get Veritas there and see if you can wake Auntie Em up.  If not, radio for help.

“Not an option,” said Prime behind her.  “We got everyone out, and then a bubble went up.  We’re stuck.  They know where to find the plane, but they don’t know we need help.”

“And the Sat phone is lagging bad, I can’t get through,” added Chase.

“We need to regroup,” said Dani, taking control of the situation.  “Where’s Jubes?”

“Side room, with Trix.”  The other three Cuckoos stepped in unison out of the shadows.  “Quintin has Sophie and she’s blocking us.  He didn’t cause the bubble, that was Trix and Wondra, but now Trix is kinda beat.”

“Why would he trap us in here?”

“To give the others time.  Every minute is half a day out there.  We’re on the missing list and the X-men will come.  We just need to hold on.”

“Yeah, one of my kids took another of my kids and my best friend from high school hostage, along with other innocents.  Not gonna fly,” Val growled.  “Powers or no powers, this _ends_.  **Now**.  Dani, get the kids and anyone not mindjacked into that side room.  Try to wake Emma up, do first aid on anyone who needs it.  Cuckoos, you have extra suppressor patches?”

Dani moved to the kids, one of the Cuckoos slapped a strip of foil wrapped patches in her hand, and everybody moved off.

“Dani, if this doesn’t work, tell Gar and Kurt that…that I….”

“Tell them yourself.”  The illusionist turned to usher the stragglers away.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Quin was… ranting, was the only word, when she got outside.  The horde of zombified protesters stared in rapt, albeit mindless, attention, and Sophie struggled against the strong arms of two of them.  When he turned to face his captive, Val saw the square outline of a removed patch.  Carefully she wound her way into the crowd, trying to match the vacant looks as she unwrapped a couple of patches.  She slid up beside a vacant Marlowe, trying to get behind Quin.

“There a plan Valentine?” he breathed near silently.  She wasn’t even that surprised that he was a mutant, and obviously one with powers like Melinda.  To be safe, she asked him a coded question.

“Yeah, what always works?” she asked in the same silent way.

“Going with the crazy, then?”

She ripped off a few patch packets.  “Like nicotine patches.  Get them on his skin, they’ll help him.”

“Not sure I want to help the kid, Val.”

“He’s a unique case.  I went in without knowing it would spiral.  He needs the patches or he’s going to die, but he removed his to amp his power levels.  Put them back on and we can save everybody.”

“On it.”

Marlowe staggered forward and about half the other first ring zombies did too.  Quintin spun to see what was going on, only to be dogpiled as Marlowe used his position to trip up others so he could slap patches on Quin’s hands and neck.  The controlled protesters disentangled quickly, and Marlowe flashed a subtle 3 at Val.  She stepped up as Quin was starting to rage again.

“I have had enough of this behavior, Mister Quire, and you will stop it right now.”

“What makes you think you can stop me?  I’m holding off the Cuckoos, I can certainly hold off a powerless nothing like you.”

“Actually, Mister Quire, I’m glad you asked.  You aren’t holding off the Cuckoos.  I am.  I am also holding off Moonstar and Sophie’s dear Auntie Emma.  I’d say that’s a certain amount of power right there.  Also, Mister Quire, if you direct your attention to the greater world, I think you’ll find it’s like wading in molasses.  I’m not going to let you do this, so I’m buying time with my power.  It’s for your benefit as well, if I can subdue you.  You won’t face as harsh a consequence.”

“You.  Don’t.  Have.  Powers.”

“There are more things in heaven and Earth, Quire.  And there are more ways to be strong than you have considered.  I told you all, day one, what my power was,”  She stepped up into his space.  “Some of you took the lesson better than others.  I am a Teacher, Mister Quire.  My power’s upper limit is that of all my students combined.  You have broken the rules, Mister Quire, and I’m assigning your butt DETENTION!”  As she yelled she slapped the two palmed patches to the sides of his neck, over the jugular and carotid.  As he scrambled to get them off, she slapped more on him, his hand, his wrist, one on his forehead.  The crowd began to relax.

“Sophie, get your sisters and Dani to move these people away.  I’ll handle this.”

Sophie's eyes whited out and almost everyone was gone nearly immediately.  Marlowe still stood beside her.

“Go inside, please Christopher.  This next bit I’m not sure you should see.”

“Nitro is still on a countdown,” Sophie reminded her.

“Then go and get everyone out, and ask Trix and Wondra to pull down the time shield.”

“Yes, Miss Logan.”

Marlowe shook his head.  Val only pulled the proper name stunt on him when she was pissed.

“I’m not mad at you, Mars-bar, I’m mad at me.  Help the kids.”

Alone with a dizzy and out of it Quin, she put her hands on his shoulders to steady him.  “You know you messed up, right?”

“Yeah,” he slurred.  “I hated myself so much I took the patch off.  When my power levels got back up…”

“You got hooked on a feeling?”

“Yeah,” he huffed.  “Look at me, no MGH for miles and I still relapse.  I hate it.  I only did it so Sophie would notice me.”

“You do know Sophie probably turned you down because self-loathing isn’t an attractive trait, right?  For the Cuckoos, for all telepaths, an attractive mind is as if not more important than an attractive face.”

“Maybe.  But I won’t ever find out now.  No powers.”

“What?”

“You OD’d me on suppressants, Miss Logan.  I’m powerless.  Maybe for a long time.  Long enough Sophie will have moved on, graduated.  And I guess I’ll be going to a normal school.”

“Quin, I’m sorry, but you know why I did it, right?”

“You were afraid.  I remember your fear, for Sophie, and your friend and all those people.”

“I was afraid for one more person.”

“Me?”  He looked confused.

“You almost died when you did this last time.  I’m not losing one of my kids.”  She pointed at herself, “Momma Bear,” she pointed at him, “Bear Cub.  I’m not going to let you die by over extending after being on suppressants for a year, even _if_ you try to bite me.  And I’m not sure a normal school would be good for you.  You need regular therapy and people who can put you on a mental suicide watch.  You should maybe be taken out of regular classes, for the Cuckoo’s sake, but a normal school is only going to make this problem you have accepting boundaries worse.  They don’t have mandatory ethics classes or a student and teacher body that understands how much damage they could do you by saying shit like ‘boys will be boys’.  You got really close to crossing a line you can’t come back from, Quin.  You need people willing to shut you down.”

“Do you hate me?”

“No.  I’m very sad and disappointed in you, because I know you can do better, and I’m mad as all get out right now because of your actions, but I don’t think you need help in the hate department.”

“That’s worse.”

“Welcome to my brother’s life.  Sucks having someone care enough to be disappointed when you make a mistake, huh?”

Suddenly, a low rumble shook the ground, and Val saw the others sprinting past them.  Quin still couldn’t stand up on his own, so Val hooked an arm around him and tried to run.  She did a head-count, everyone was ahead, even Sam, if his sister floating in a fireman’s carry was an indicator.  She pushed her legs to move faster, dragging Quin, who did his best not to be dead weight.  At the edge of the parking lot, the Blackbird’s ramp was down before even landing and people were pulling others up.  A bamfing sound and the sulfur smell heralded Kurt’s arrival.

“Take him, he’s been hurt,” she told him.  “Glad to see you,” she added as Kurt scooped Quin up.  “Go, I can run.”

Kurt nodded and bamfed away.  A cry rang out, and Val saw Jubes go down on a pile of disturbed asphalt.

“JUBILEE!!” she screamed, and changed course to get to her.  She tugged Jubes up and the teen put her hand behind and above Val’s head to blast a falling tree limb.  Val pushed Jubes towards the jet as a shock wave hit, and Kurt caught her.  “GO!” Val screamed.  One did not live in the Bay without learning what an earthquake felt like.  Kurt teleported and Val staggered to her feet.  She spotted a fallen man with a camera and moved to help haul him up.

“You a mutant, one of those X people?”

“No, I just love my family and they _are_ mutants.”

“You do this?”

“No.  This was their doing.  Who the heck builds an explosion waiting to happen in a basement on a fault line?”

Kurt appeared before she could get another response.

“I guess hyu want me to save this one too, Mien Schatz?”

“Gee, it’s almost like you know me.  Next date, we stay in and watch a movie, OK?”

“Ich liebe dich über alles.”

“Ich liebe dich auch Honig.”

“Hyu learned German!”

“You kept using it to be sappy, I had to do something, now go.”

She was two yards out from the ramp when she felt it.  **Shut the door** she broadcasted to the telepaths inside.  She saw the ramp go up and she turned around to look at the crumbling edifice to hate.  *I’m sorry, Gar.  I’m sorry Kurt,* she thought to herself.  **Punch it** she told the telepaths.  The building went up as she heard the thrusters fire.  A shock wave knocked her into something solid, and she blacked out.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

“Val?”  She moaned at the sound.  “Val, wake up.”

“Gar?”  Her voice sounded raspy even to her.

“You were out for a WEEK Val!  How could you!”  She tried to open her eyes and couldn’t.

“BB, leave her alone, she’s only now waking up.”

“Who…”

“It’s Raven, Miss Logan.  I’ll get him to stop bugging you.  Mister Wagner wanted to see you anyway.”

“Mien Schatz… Danke Gott.  I almost lost hyu.  Hank said the bandages should come off soon, but hyu vill need to wear dark glasses.  He also said hyu should not look at any more atomic explosions.  Hyu also had a concussion he vants to vatch.”

“I’m so sorry,” she began.

“Nein Schatz, hyu did what hyu always do, hyu protected the ones hyu care about.  I knew that when ve fell in love.”

“I was saying: I’m sorry, but who _are_ you?”


	25. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val recovers, but will her relationship with Kurt?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm evil, not sadistic, so here you go.

Val spent some time being very confused.  She remembered everything up to the riot at Chenoweth, but somehow in less than a year she’d gotten a teaching job, a boyfriend, several best friends who weren’t Marlowe, a set of very dedicated kids with mutant powers, and a certain measure of fame for something she didn’t remember doing.

Kurt, her boyfriend (and again whaaa?) hovered over her nearly all the time as late February turned into March.  He was sweet, and his voice was nice, but after another scan to see if it was safe, the Doctor, Hank said she should leave the bandages on.  Something about swelling in the occipital lobe.  Kurt handled this news fairly well, but she began to worry that her face had gotten disfigured or something, because he went from holding her hand as she tried to sleep to barely touching her.  She might not remember him, but she missed his hand in hers.

In mid-March, a few days before St Patrick’s Day (one of Gar’s favorite holidays) her bandages came off and she learned her doctor was a furry blue mutant.

“Well that explains more than it doesn’t.”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Miss Logan.”

“I was wondering why I had agreed to move Gar here.  None of you mentioned being mutants.  In fact you were vague about a lot of things.  I thought you were supposed to remind amnesia patients of the stuff they forgot.”

“We worried too much input would hurt your recovery.  Now that you’re physically fit as the proverbial fiddle, there are some very worried psychics that would like to help you get back the memories you lost.”

“Hi Miss Logan!” a cheerful platinum blonde girl in a school uniform popped in.  “I’m Celeste.  The professor said we could help you if Miss Frost guided us.”

“We?” Val asked as three other girls with the same hair, face and clothing came in.  “Hank, I’m seeing quadruple.”

“No you aren’t,” the middle girl chided playfully. “We’re quintuplets, but we lost Esme, so there’s only four Cuckoos in the nest now.”

“Girls,” said a pretty blonde with the same hair, but older and in a white crop top with a detached collar and white skinny jeans, “you are not to tease a patient until you have rapport.  I’m Emma Frost, these are my nieces, Celeste, Sophie, Mindee, and Phoebe.  I hope you don’t mind, but I took your job while you were out.  You can have it back though, I don’t know _how_ you handle all those teens so well.”

“I raised my brother since he was two; you really think I _didn’t_ read every parenting guide known to the internet on mutant teens?”

“Fair point, but I don’t think I’m cut out for it.  Would you like the girls and me to begin?”

“Sure, hit me with your best shot.”

Val’s world went white, then colors seeped in, almost like watercolors bleeding across wet paper, greens, blues, purple, little streaks of yellow orange darting in between.  She gasped and her mind returned to normal.

“Anything?” Mindee asked.

“Some, Mindee, but nothing solid.  My head hurts and I’m thirsty, is that normal?”

“You were under for an hour, so yes,” Emma said, handing her water with a novelty crazy straw in it.

“I remember that…” she took a sip, “I won it off Bobby when I crushed him on Rainbow Road.”  Val smirked.  "He never saw the blue shell coming."

“Seriously,” asked Sophie incredulously.  “She remembers beating Mister Drake at Mario Kart, but not anything else?  I call bullshit.”

“Language, Sophie,” Val chided.  “It’ll happen as it happens.  I’m pretty tired, so I think I want to stop for the day.  Phoebe, can you hand me that mirror by you, yes that one.”  Phoebe passed her the mirror.

“Why’d you want that,” asked Celeste as she and her sisters moved around the bed.

“Kurt’s been avoiding me, I’m checking for scars.  Not that I’d keep him if he’s that shallow, but if I do have them I’d kind of like some Mederma or something.”

“No, you’re still pretty,” Sophie said.  “Mister Wagner’s just come down with a case of the boy-stupids.”

“Boy-stupids?”

“That thing where boys get really dumb for a while before becoming functionally sentient again.”

“Good name,” Val nodded.

“You taught us about them.  When we asked why that one guy was so determined to go after a girl who was obviously going to choose the other guy when there was a perfectly nice girl who liked him in our play.”

Val shot upright, “the play!  I forgot about the play! We had only just started rehearsals….”

“Don’t worry, the kids kept going, everything is on or ahead of the schedule you left in your notes, the play will go on,” reassured Emma.  “We did some…creative recasting to handle some student changes, but everything we altered, we put to a vote of the class.”

“Good,” Val let out a deep breath.  “Anything else?”

“That news reporter you and Kurt saved aired his footage, and is doing a series of interviews.  He keeps trying to get ahold of you.”

“Ugh, I don’t even remember that.”

“I’ll leave a laptop so you can watch it.  The playlist is set.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_“In February, a surprising thing occurred at a SoCal Church of Humanity.”  An aerial shot, probably from a traffic copter of the shimmery bubble going up and slowing all activity to a crawl played as the voice-over continued.  “We sent investigative journalist Neal Conan to get a look at the dome that lasted three days, before coming down.”  The voice over changed as the bubble popped in slow motion. “ I have been witness to some incredible things in my time as a reporter, but never have I seen such bravery and dare I say heroism as I did on February 17 th.  The young woman you now see carrying the injured teen has been credited with saving the lives of two dozen protesters and thirty members of the congregation.  As you can see, she was working in concert with a teleporting mutant, passing off her injured burden to go back and save a young mutant who seems to be working under the name ‘Jubilee’.”  The shot shifted from Val passing a limp boy to a handsome blue mutant she vaguely recognized, to her sprinting to the young Chinese-American girl who had fallen.  The girl blasted out a ball of light that exploded a mesquite branch before it could hit them, only to be tossed to the blue teleporter as the camera shook and fell.  The next scene was of her face, partly obscured by purple tinted wraparound sunglasses.  She was being interviewed as she helped the man behind the camera stand._

_“You a mutant, one of those X people?”_

_“No, I just love my family and they **are**  mutants.”_

_“You do this?”_

_“No.  This was their doing.  Who the heck builds an explosion waiting to happen in a basement on a fault line?”_

_The camera showed a puff of smoke and the blue mutant, smiling as he spoke._

_“I guess hyu want me to save this one too, Mien Schatz?”_

_“Gee, it’s almost like you know me.  Next date, we stay in and watch a movie, OK?”_

_“The identity of the couple has yet to be determined, but the two have obvious chemistry and function well as a pair, leading us to wonder if they’ve preformed similar rescues before.”_

_“Ich liebe dich über alles.”_

_Under the teleporter ran the translation “I love you so much.”_

_“Ich liebe dich auch Honig.”_

_The translator had it as “I love you too, Honey.”_

_“Hyu learned German!”_

_“You kept using it to be sappy, I had to do something, now go.”_

_The scene cut to inside a plane crowded with other people where a skinny, tired looking woman with copper skin argued with the teleporter as Mindee punched buttons._

_“She said close it, I’m respecting her wishes, and you will too!”_

_“Moonstar, hyu are **not** abandoning her.”_

_“Too late,” Mindee called.  “She said punch it, and it looks like that’s all that will keep us alive so I’m doing it.”_

_A puff of blue smoke, and the man with the camera asked “You’re leaving her behind?”_

_“What the Momma Bear orders, the Bear Cubs do,” shrugged a rainbow color-shifting girl._

_“Can’t blame ‘em,” added a blond boy.  “I met her today and I’m boosting this jet’s speed limit.  Yo, Cuckoo, ready for Mach 2”_

_“Talkback, your nose is bleeding,” said a girl with a faded and grown out lavender dye job._

_“As you can see,” continued the voice over, “this young woman inspires incredible love, loyalty and, ultimately, hope.”  The shot showed a sunburnt and unconscious Val reappearing on the plane as the teleporter curled around her protectively.  “So far, none of the mutants involved have come forward, but we anticipate interviews with several members of both the protest group and the church itself.”_

Val sighed, and switched to the next video.

_“Mr. Kittridge, thank you for joining us.”_

_“A pleasure Mr. Conan,” Marlowe pulled out the charming smile only Val could identify as him lying through his teeth._

_“What are your thoughts on the 2/17 explosion?”_

_“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised that a group like that would be cooking up drugs, there’s a long history of drug use in cults, and that’s basically what the Church of Humanity is, as detailed in my open letter essay on hate groups in America.”_

_"And the involvement of the mutants?”_

_“That **did** surprise me.  They had no reason to try to save the thirty people in that building who hated them.  Working to protect the ones who hate and fear you…that takes more courage and love than I think most people have in them.  But ultimately, that is what makes a hero.”_

_“And what do you think about the human who was working with them?”_

_“I like her.  Always have.  We were friends growing up, and that she would do this does not surprise me at all.”_

_“You know the identity of the mysterious ‘Momma Bear’?”_

_“Yes and I will not be revealing it until I receive word from her that it is safe to do so.  She’s been hurt enough for standing up for the safety of her family, her real family.  I won’t be one of the ones who threatens that safety.  I already know she has a nasty left hook; I don’t need to see that from the receiving end.”_

_“Without revealing her identity, can you tell us more?”_

_“She is the kindest, most loving person I ever met, and at the same time, one of the most vicious.  A quarterback once made improper insinuations about her brother and she picked the locks on the locker room door and his locker to dump three bags worth of itching powder in all his football gear the day of his big game.”_

_“Would you say she’s always had mutant sympathies?”_

_“She has a vested interest.  I believe your interview sums it up nicely.  Her family are mutants, and she loves them.”_

_“And the relationship with the blue one,” he rifled through his notes._

_“His call sign is Nightcrawler, I was given permission to tell you that.”_

_“Do you find that…unusual?”_

_“I find it hard to believe she didn’t start dating him sooner.  The UST was palpable over the phone.”  He rolled his eyes._

_“Ah…” at a loss, Mr. Conan smiled in that tight way that never reaches the eyes.  “That’s all the time we have today, tune in tomorrow for another interview with a survivor from the congregation.”_

Val turned off the stream.  So that was Kurt.  That was the guy she’d fallen for.  The guy who was avoiding her.  The guy who saved her.  She buried her face in her pillow and cried.

“Sweetie,” a soft southern accented voice interrupted.  “The Cuckoos are all angry at mah idiot brother for some reason.  Yah feel like talkin’?”

“Why doesn’t he want me anymore,” Val sobbed out mostly into a pillow.

“Why can’t the two a ya see any kinda reason?  Kurt’s been mopin’ about since yah woke up, he thinks you’ll hate him.”

“Why?”  Val sat up and something clicked when she saw Rogue’s face.  “Why does he always do this, Rogue?  He runs like he’s afraid of me, but he only does it when he wants me to catch him, and it is freaking **hard** to catch a teleporter!”

“Yah remember.  That’s good.”

“I remember enough to not know if I want to shake him like a shake and bake chicken or kiss him incoherent.  I’m not sure that’s good.”

“Ah can send him in so you can do both.”

“No.  I’m done chasing.  If he wants this, if he wants _me_ , then _he_ can do the chasing.  You tell him I’m done salving that particular patch of ego, and I’m not putting myself on the line for him again unless he comes to me.”

“Are you sure, Sweetie?”

“Yeah.  Kurt needs to realize I’m not her, and I need to learn how to say enough.  I love him, and I think he loves me, but I’m not going to go through this again.  He wants me, he can come and get me.”


	26. Fear and Forgiveness

It was harder than she’d thought, to stay away from Kurt.  She made it through March, stubbornly going about her days as though she had never met him, never loved him, pretending she didn’t take a deep breath every time she caught a whiff of sulfur, that she never fantasized.  She took the class back from a very grateful Emma, and found out all of the ‘Runaways’ as they’d named themselves before meeting her had been added to the class.  It _had_ made casting easier, but it worried her that these kids had been thrown into a situation they hadn’t prepared for.  She may have over compensated a bit, especially with Gert and Molly.  Molly was pretty young, not even a freshman, and she’d been dealing with all the problems of living on the streets and coping with some major issues.  None of the kids trusted easily, but that was kind of to be expected, given they shut down a major mutant terrorist cell made up of their own parents.  And someone named Alex they refused to talk about.

In early April, the dam finally broke.  A woman, a really pretty woman, was brought in.  Val wasn’t privy to why, only that Rogue caught her before dinner to explain that there was another baseline on the campus and maybe the kids with telepathy should get a heads up, since she had no real knowledge of shielding and the students were still working on not overhearing.  Val was used to being the go-to for issues involving the stronger telepaths at the school, since most of them were in her class, and had granted her a back-door, so she could ping them to talk across the school, even without powers.  She’d made the appropriate warnings and gone in to eat, only to see Kurt sitting next to the pretty new girl.  Who was baseline.  Kurt had a thing for baseline women, according to pretty much everyone.  When he was younger he had a brief flirtation with Kitty that didn’t last a month, but other than that, yup mostly baselines.

Gar sat next to Val on the opposite side of the table from Kurt with a scowl on his face.  The last thing she’d wanted to do with her decision was make Gar choose between his mentor and his sister.  But he’d clearly come down in her favor.  Several students had, actually, even some who weren’t even in her class.  Roberto deCosta had become a fairly vocal advocate in her favor, and Artie Leech had taken to sneaking up on Kurt to mess with him as his skin changed.  She’d gotten pretty confused about it, until she stopped by Alex Summers’ room to see how the reality-displaced mutant was hanging in there.

“He’s a teacher,” he’d explained, “a person they’re supposed to respect, to look up to.  And then, from the way the kids are telling it, he pulled a pretty dick move on you, letting you think he didn’t like you anymore.  Especially since you were already having memory issues.  I…kinda ran into that with Lorna.  I’m remembering timelines that never happened and it was hard to accept that this version of her never met me.  She’s willing to get to know me, but I have to know, solidly, what I remember happening didn’t happen.  You got the other end.  You didn’t remember stuff that had happened and avoiding you made you doubt the memories that did come back.  I know, when someone you respect, when someone you want to make proud pulls a dick move, you lose faith.  You stop respecting them like you used to.  The burden goes on them to make you proud.”

“You were halfway insane when we extracted you.  How come you’re the wise one now?”

He’d laughed and tapped a temple.  “Over 60 lifetimes and timelines.  It’s the experience.”

She wished he’d come to dinner that night.  It was hard enough watching Kurt put extra helpings on a plate that wasn’t hers, without having to sit stoically beside her brother with no adult beside her, but with the student body firmly on her side, she had kids three deep on either side.  Chase and Gert had the same defensive posture as Gar, although they were better at keeping a neutral expression.

“So, Karen, why are you here?” Karolina asked in her super polite voice that usually meant a fight was brewing.  The professor had helped her get the rainbow effect down to a low shimmer, but her blonde hair was rippling with little sparks of color.

“My husband got in some trouble, it was safest to leave the city for a bit.”

Husband.  The word brought some relief, but if she was running, Kurt did like his damsels, and if she’d gotten far enough from needing saving…

**She’s happily married,** Sophie told her over the link.  **Projecting like crazy about how bad it must be for him to tell her to go, but she’s not scoping the blue blunder.**

**No more prying Sophie, any of you.  I know your walls can handle that without peeking.  It’s rude.**

**But!** a mental chorus was more disconcerting than a verbal one.

**No more peeking, I mean it!**

**Anybody want a peanut?**

Val wondered which Cuckoo had gotten ahold of The Princess Bride and when.  It wasn’t in their movie cache.  She looked back across the table.

“Frau Rogers, vould hyu like some more mashed potatoes?”  At least he was recognizing that she was married.  But still.

“No, thank you though, Kurt.”  Did she really also have to be nice?  Val wanted to hate her damn it.  “I’m stuffed.”

“But ve haven’t even had desert yet!  Hyu’re not sick, are hyu?”  Val ground her teeth.  Desert was always a sore spot, the last thing Kurt had done as her boyfriend was give her cake.  Cake that had almost lead to somewhere very exciting.

Karen laughed.  Val suppressed the urge to lunge across the table and slap her.  “Kurt, I’m fine, honest.”

“Give her a break, Kurt,” Amara cut in sharply from his other side. “She doesn’t have my fiery metabolism.  It’s OK when you carb-load me, but to other people it’s just annoying.”  Val gave Amara a thankful glance, and got a tiny smile, before looking back at how protective he was acting.

“But, Amara…”  Kurt protested with genuine horror.  Val remembered how he’d reacted with such happiness when she took whatever extra helpings he snuck on her plate with only a knowing smile.

“No buts Kurt.  I know you’re just being German, but leave her alone after she says she’s full.”  With an apologetic glance at Val she explained.  “It means he likes you.  But I get that it can be hard to keep up with his food pusher ways.”

“I understand the sentiment, and I’m not upset, just very full.”  She looked at Val, who tried to keep the anger off her face.  It wasn’t Karen’s fault.  She must have let something slip, though.  “And tired.  I’ve had a bit of a rough day.  I think I’m going to call it a night.”

“Alright,” Amara said.  “Sleep well.”

After dinner, Val helped clean up.  The soothing repetition of hand washing plates helped her calm down.  Sort of.  Usually.  She wasn’t having much luck when Rogue joined her.  Despite the ultimatum and subsequent division among the students and some of the staff, the southern mutant had never held the whole thing against her.

“So, penny for yah thoughts?”

“Not sure they’re worth that much.  But, did she have to be pretty, _and_ nice, _and_ baseline?  And then there’s the damsel in distress factor.  Kurt seems to be a sucker for those.  All I’ve really got going for me is baseline, and I bet there are tons of baseline girls who’d love to have such a sweet and kind and, sorry I know he’s your brother, but really freaking hot guy.  I know I did.”

“Hyu are wrong.”  Val jumped and turned, the soapy plate flying out of her hand.  Kurt snatched it easily.  “Being wrong doesn’t mean hyu can throw dishes at me,” he mock chided.

“One, that was a perfectly normal startle response, and two, what do you mean ‘wrong’?”

“Hyu have much more than your genetics, as hyu say, ‘going for hyu’.  I thought about it.  Vhen hyu had mein Schwester tell me to stop running away.  I thought about how that must have hurt hyu, and how selfish I had been.  I vas also told, fairly firmly, by mein students that I had done wrong.  It vas not the first time, either.  I thought maybe hyu would be happier, vith someone else.  Someone who does not try to tie his happiness to your desire to pursue him.  I saw how close hyu got with Alex, and…he’s handsome.  And he could take you places vithout getting a bunch of stares, and hyu deserve to be happy, Val.”

“I’m **not** happy, you idiot!  I’m miserable.  And Alex and I are close because we both had memory problems, besides, he’s head over heels for Lorna.  And I don’t care if people stare at my ridiculously hot boyfriend as long as they know he’s _mine_.  You are so stupid for such a smart man, Kurt.  I love you.  I just need to know if you love me.  And treating me like a leper doesn’t send that message.  So forgive me for being a little skeptical that you actually like me, let alone love me, when you keep dropping me like a hot rock.”

“Val, I do love hyu.  It vas agony, thinking I had to let hyu go.  Hyu are so strong, and gentle, and I’m not sure vhere this verruckt idea of not having anything to offer came from, but it’s wrong.  Yes, Frau Rogers is pretty, but hyu are beautiful, and she is nice, but you are so much more.  Hyu are the one I dream about, hyu are the one I want to hold again because my arms feel empty vithout you.  Hyu are the one I love.  My Seelenverwandte.  Hyu vanted me to come and get you?  Here I am.”

“You big, overdramatic sap.  I’d hug you, but my hands are all soapy.”

“I don’t care.”  They embraced and each felt the tension they’d been carrying melt away.

“My room, tomorrow night, and nothing short of the end of the world stops you.”

“Of course Schatz.”


	27. End of the World As We Know It (I Feel Fine)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning, mostly smut, please read tag update.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For dragonheart1330, Radwoman, hannah7110, DreamedWordsDreamed, badwolf13, JinglePinglePie, GamingGhoul, and naruturd, I'm sorry I'm falling down on the dedications.

Of course, the imminent end of the world had to happen the next day, or at least, the revelation that Hydra was controlling a global peace-keeping force.  Such irony.  The school was put on alert, and everyone capable of fighting for their lives and those of others was tasked with a shift.  More than a few of her Bear Cubs finagled their way onto the roster.  The Cuckoos suited up in matching white cat suits, and Emma switched into vaguely Domme body armor in the same blinding white.  She stood watch with them.  Frezerburn, Pyro, Prime and Spike, the black kid with the bone growths who had elected to stay on for college, prowled the grounds with Talkback helping co-ordinate their patrol with Arsenic’s directions to Old Lace.  Redirect and Lucy in the Sky doubled with Cyclops and Jean.  Gambit, Rogue and Logan wound up with Jubilee with them.  Val stayed with the younger kids in a three level deep subbasement that used to be a bomb shelter.  Kurt stayed with her and helped her keep them entertained.  Around one AM, Val felt a polite telepathic nudge that woke her.

**What’s up?**

**Karen is awake, pissed off at the professor, and talked to her husband, his team strikes tomorrow.**

**I said no prying, Mindee.**

**It’s pertinent.  Aunt Emma is going to be leaving to go to the airport to…assist in the ruse they need.**  Some strange, not quite vocal quality rang across the link.

**You’re scared.** Val thought with sudden realization.  She didn’t mean to send it, but she still got a small affirmative from the girls.  **Come downstairs, you need rest.  Kurt and I will take watch.**  The girls agreed, and Val nudged Kurt with her knee from where they’d fallen asleep side by side.  “The Cuckoo’s are coming off duty, I said we’d take it.  I just want them to feel safer.”

“Ja, Schatz, vhatever hyu vant,” he said sleepily.  They walked to the stairs to turn the keys that let the Cuckoos in the door, and then went up themselves.  Two steps up, Val wrapped her arms around him.  He embraced her back in partial surprise, tail going to her waist.

“Is there somewhere private we can keep watch from?”

His face split into a sexy grin, white teeth flashing in the dark.  “Are hyu sure, Schatz?  Hyu know vhat they say about going to hidden places vith people like me.” He flicked the spaded tip of his tail under her shirt, for emphasis.  “Hyu don’t vant to make a deal with a devil hyu vill regret.”

“I’m regretting every moment since I woke up after the explosion.  So much lost time.  We could all die tomorrow.  Forgive me wanting something I’ve never had as a send-off if the school goes sky high.  Take me somewhere private, Kurt, and do the things I can tell you’re thinking of when I look in your eyes.”

“Ja, Mien Schatz,” he said, voice thick with some deep need.  A bamf sound, a smell of smoke and the whirling dizzy sensation that was a bit like too much wine, the one and only time she’d drank any, and they were under the night sky.  The roof was flat, and certainly large enough not to be seen from the ground.  Kurt disentangled their limbs, and vanished in smoke for a moment before re-appearing with an armload of blankets and pillows.  He laid the thickest one, a big puffy thing, out with the pillows, the others nearby.

Val grabbed him in a deep kiss, and pulled at his shirt, needing to touch him.  He happily stripped it off and helped remove hers, and the slide of velveteen fur on her skin sent happy shivers through her.

“Vhat do hyu vant, Schatz, name it.”

“You, I just want you, any way, every way, I don’t know what to do, but I know I want to do it.  Please.”

His eyes flashed.  “ _Any_ way Schatz, that is pretty broad.  Do hyu really vant to hand me that kind of free ticket?”

“If I tell you to stop, you will, I know that.  What I don’t know is what I like or what you like, so, yes, take the lead.”

“Hyu, hyu’ve never…”

“Is that a problem?”  She glared at him in the dark, the partial moonlight through some light clouds turning him into an indigo shadow with a handsome face.

“No, Gott, no, never, I just, Schatz, you’re so beautiful I assumed you at least knew a little.”

“I know enough to grasp the basics, but that’s not firsthand knowledge.”

“No, it isn’t, Schatz, let me take care of hyu.”  His hand stroked her arm, sliding to her back as he guided her to sit on the blanket.  She nuzzled into his other hand, that he’d placed on her cheek.  She reached up and popped the front closure on her bra open.  At his sharp inhale, she looked at him with a grin.

“I do know I’ve thought about your hands for a very long time.  Almost since we met, if that’s not too strange.”

“Mein hands?” he asked confused.  He’d always viewed his hands with a certain amount of disgust, thick and inelegant.

“They’re so soft, and strong too, and I wanted to feel them on me.”  She took the hand from her cheek and guided it to cup her now free breasts, moaning as the fuzz brushed hyper-sensitive nipples.

Kurt swallowed thickly, as he watched her put his hand where she wanted it, rubbing into him with happy sounds.  He brought his other hand up to cup them both, teasing the nipples into stiffness, before daring to dip his head down and lick one with a quick swipe. Her deep moan pushed him past ‘aroused’ and into ‘nearly painfully erect’.  He lowered a hand to remove his pants, and Val quickly caught the idea, helping him shuck the flannel sleep pants, and stroking his length with in-expert caution, until he wrapped a hand around hers and showed her the pace he liked.  Soon, though, he had to push her hand off him.

“It’s not bad, Schatz, just early.  If I go too soon, I may not have the energy to take care of hyu the vay I vant to.”

“Which way is that?” she asked with a leer.

“Until hyu cannot think, but for my name, and the pleasure I bring you.  I want to please you, Schatz, mein Herz, meine Herrin.  Let me?”

“Who in their right mind turns down that?”  She smiled.  “You sound like you know what you’re doing, I’ll stop you if it’s not good.  We’ll learn this together.”

“Ja.” He slipped her sleep-shorts off her, and traced lines on her thighs with the sensitive pads of his large fingers, until she wriggled beneath his ministrations and groaned his name in frustration.  Obliging the unspoken request, he slid his hands up to the joining of her legs and got a finger under the edge of her panties. “Hyu said hyu vanted to feel mien hands on hyu, did hyu mean…everywhere?”

“Yes, please, yes Kurt.”

“Do hyu have special attachment to these?” he asked, tugging the plain cotton.

“No, not at all, why?”

“Something I have always vanted to do, if hyu like it, but these vill be ruined.”

“I think I have an idea what you mean, do it.”  He smiled feral and wild at her.  Then he dipped his head and used sharp teeth to rip the panties free of her body, a few nipping tears leaving her bare to him.  He took a deep breath of her smoky, musky scent, licked his lips and dove back down to lap and suck upon the sweet flesh of her, her hands clawing at his shoulders as her hips thrust at him in need.  He slipped a single finger between the folds of her pussy, running up and down to gather moisture from her arousal, causing moans of the frustrated pleasure that comes from being on the edge of orgasm.

“Shh, Schatz, I’ll get hyu there.”  He slid the finger up to massage her clit, and she bucked and gasped and shook as he drew it out long and lasting.  When he let up, she looked at him with dilated eyes.  “Do hyu vant more, meine Herrin?”

“More.”  The word wavered on the edge of being a question, but was close enough to a demand that he kissed her slightly parted lips and slid his finger inside her gently, feeling for the places that would cause her to gasp, or sigh, or growl with incoherent need.  He learned her body’s most intimate reactions and soon she was shaking again, a hoarse moan that may have been his name escaping her.  Her hips pistoned onto him with vigor until a she let out a shuddering sigh and collapsed.  He pulled the blanket from the side over them as she cuddled into him.

She came back to herself slowly, aware of Kurt’s arm and naked body beneath her, looking up, she met his eyes.  For a moment she was struck speechless by the love in them.

“Ich liebe dich.”

“Hyu remember German.”

“I tell you I love you and your response is surprise I remember how to say it in German?”

“Schatz, hyu just let me do something no-one has ever vanted of me, and hyu liked it so much, hyu fell asleep on me.  I’m pretty sure that’s love.  And, I love hyu, too.”

“If they didn’t want that, they’re idiots.  That was amazing.  And also a bit like Chinese food, now I want more.”

“More?  I vas sure hyu’d exhausted hyurself.”

“If there’s more you can show me, I want it.  If you, I mean, I’m not demanding that you stand to and deliver, if you don’t want to….”

“Schatz, meine Herrin, I vant nothing more.  And I like it vhen hyu demand.”

“Then I’m demanding.  Show me all your tricks, acrobat.”

“Oh, so it’s like that, eh?” He flipped them around in a move she couldn’t follow and suddenly his length was hot and hard against her back as he fondled her breasts with one hand and the other was doing something out of her sight.  She knew what when a condom box got flicked to the side by his spaded tail.  “Are hyu ready, meine Herrin, to see how…flexible I can be?”

“Yes, a thousand times yes, Kurt.”

He started slowly, working her ass open gently with a lubed up finger, which, given the girth of his fingers, was still enough to have her shaking and panting on the edge.  When the preperations were done, he slid her hips away from his, and instinctively she dropped to her hands and knees to grant him access.  A muffled moan behind her told her all she needed about how he felt about that.  He guided himself in, and she gasped, the fullness and heat overwhelming her, and her hips snapped back, driving him home.  Her world was nothing but fullness and pleasure for a moment, until he started a steady rhythm of thrusts.  She arched back and turned her head, and he gave her the kiss she sought. As they kissed, she felt a teasing flutter at her clit.  His hands were occupied, so she glanced down.

“Kurt, your tail….”

“Oh, mien Gott, I’m sorry Schatz.  It’s mostly unconscious,” he began to pull it back.

“It’s mostly sexy, is what it is.”

“Vas?”

“Do that again, Kurt, it felt good.”

“I…” His face pressed into her shoulder, and she could feel the heat from his blush.  But his tail’s spaded tip pushed open the outer lips of her pussy to rub her clit.  She moaned in pleasure, the decadence of his hands on her breasts, his cock throbbing inside her ass, and now his tail stimulating her pushing her close to orgasm.

“I’m so close, Kurt, please, I need, I don’t know what but I **_need_**.”

“Me too, meine Herrin, may, may I…”he shuddered as a vigorous flick had her clenching.

“Yes, whatever it is.”

He bit off a strangled moan, and slipped the spaded tip lower, delving deeper, sliding inside her, moaning in ecstasy as he did.  His tail felt thicker than she had thought it might, in one of her dirtier daydreams.  She felt full and satisfied and then he flicked that one spot and she came undone in his arms, and he let out a muffled a shout in her hair.

This time, she came back from the white-out of lust and climax with his tail still inside her, although he moved around to face her.  His blissful smile was a memory she’d treasure always.  She shifted a little, and he groaned, his eyes flying open.

“Schatz, I may be a mutant, but super-stamina and short refractory periods are not my power.”

“I was only shifting a bit.”

“Mein tail, it is, sensitive, I don’t know the word, but it gets me aroused, and right now, it vould be painful to be so.”

“Ahh, erogenous zone.  Why didn’t you pull it out too, then?”

“Every time I tried, hyu fluttered inside, and I got dizzy from the feeling.”

“Interesting,” she said, drawing it out syllable by syllable.

“I sense much use of this fact in my future.”

“Believe it, stud.  Now, where did my shorts and shirt go?” she asked, suppressing the reaction to the trill of pleasure as she pulled herself off the spaded tip.

They re-dressed and kept watch until dawn.  As they packed up to go back inside, Val slipped the shredded underwear in Kurt’s pocket.  He looked at her, and she kissed his nose.  “Trophy for a job well done, if you like.”  He flushed hot and pressed a kiss to the place on her shoulder he’d bitten a little at some point neither remembered.  The cut from his teeth was small and already healing, and fortunately, under her shirt, although spaghetti straps would be out for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Patreon: http://patreon.com/bairnsidhe
> 
> Tumblr: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com


	28. Life goes on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a near apocalypse, life continues for Val, and if that means consoling a troubled former telepath, buying a bunch of fake blood supplies at Costco, and doing an impromptu interview with a reporter, well, the show, and life, must go on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Ananas and Nighmare. Kudos and Comments feed the muse.

Val continued to keep an eye on the younger kids the next day, until the Professor sent a telepathic ‘all clear’ signal, and everyone went back upstairs.  Val caught Ororo looking at her with a smug grin.

 “What’s so funny ‘Ro?” she asked the older teacher.

“Apocalypses tend to bring out the inner romantic in us all, I think,” she said.  Suddenly Val remembered who her watch had overlapped with.

“Oh God, tell me Jubes didn’t overhear anything.”

“No, but you would not believe how sensitive Logan’s nose is when he stops smoking to keep it dulled down.  I trust you had a good watch?”

“The absolute best.”

The weather witch smiled.

They took the day off, all of them, the kids napped or played games to renormalize, and a surprising number of the older students and staff booked turns in the danger room.  Val guessed it was to get rid of excess nerves and the hyper-vigilance she’d seen in a few eyes.  She noticed all of the Runaways had booked together on the highest level they were allowed at their ages, but she said nothing because Chase’s eyes were blown and Nico kept twitching her hand for the razors she’d had before they got confiscated.  Her powers were stronger if she was bleeding, that didn’t mean anyone wanted her hurting herself to play at a higher level.  She gave in after an unfavorable comparison to Quin had been made.

Thinking of Kid Omega, Val decided to detour down to Detention, which was much more literal in this school, a mutant proof cell (probably stolen from a bad guy) had been re-purposed into a classroom and a few bunks and a bathroom.  Quin was down there, getting his normal education, as well as ethics classes.  His permissions also allowed visitors, since social isolation is horrible on the brain.  Val scanned in, and he popped up of the bunk he’d been it.

“How goes it, Quin?”

“Pretty well, I think.  Miss Frost taking my ethics class for a few weeks made me re-evaluate my life choices.”

“She is kinda terrifying,” Val agreed.

“No, I mean yeah, totally, but some things she said about how she was raised.  It sounded awful, being pushed into making power plays so young, love being a reward for exceptional success, not just a thing you get because you’re a family.  No wonder she bolted when she had the chance.  And she’s the one who tracked down the Cuckoos when they got their powers and shut down, Jane Does numbers one through five.  She was in their heads helping them to wake up, but they got some of her memories too.  Sophie didn’t reject me because I wasn’t strong, she rejected me because I saw it as a thing to chase after and she had some nasty memories from Emma about that mindset.”

“So you’re straight on that point at least.  More power doesn’t always make you better.”

“Or more capable, you took me down without them,” he added ruefully.  “Omega level telepath and I got taken out by my drama teacher.”

“Be glad you can’t get mocked in the halls, if it really bugs you.”  Val shrugged.  “I did what I had to, to protect you and the others.  The blast would have killed us.”

“I know.  I’m not mad, just a little nutty.”

Val laughed at the joke.  “Has anyone from class caught you up on the play?”

“No,” he shook his head.  “I’ve been on a lot of people’s third strike since the explosion.”

“Well, we recast a new girl, Karolina as Titania, to free up Melinda for Helena, and the Cuckoos are going to be her handmaids, and G is Puck, since she can pull the flight trick he needs.  Prime agreed to be Oberon, even though he kind of wanted Demetrius and you’d originally been Oberon.  We’ve got some new recruits, so we can do the full play-within-the-play.  Chase is really good at being Nick Bottom, he says he’s imitating someone they used to know.”

“That’s great,” Quin said with a tired voice.  Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.  “When are you doing it?  With the lockdown, did you have to delay?”

“No, we’re on schedule.  We’re doing it for parent’s day.”

“Probably better than my psychic vaudeville routine last year,” he said with a mix of shame and resignation.

“Don’t dwell, that’s an order.  Quin, you’re young, and really bright, ergo, when you do make with the stupid it’s going to be on a big scale.  You know what you did wrong, and why.  You’re learning.”

“Did you decide on how to handle special effects?” he asked, dodging the topic.

“Powers on the magic effects, the things Puck does or the other fairy characters, and then practicals on the things done by mortals, like Pyramus and Thisbe’s deaths.  Which reminds me, I need to pick up some supplies for the fake blood creation class.”

“Ok, I’ll see you when I see you, I guess.”

“I’ll be back again; you know I will.  I will care you into submission, and you will fall kicking and screaming and secretly loving it, if my brother is an indication.  My bear cub, remember.”

Quin smiled.  It was a start.

She decided to take the rest of her off day to do some shopping.  Kurt offered to drive her, and Gar demanded to ride with.  He was still a little protective, even if the way Val had wound up sleeping right next to Kurt, turning him into a man mattress in the bunker had been a pretty clear sign the cold war was over.

Kurt took the disguise route of loose cargo pants that didn’t constrict the tail so much and a hoodie.  It wouldn’t change his coloration, but it would help people’s eyes move over him too fast to see it.  Gar, on the other hand, chose jeans and a red tee shirt with a pattern of black and white stripes that kept him from looking like a Christmas tree.  He slapped a black ball cap with a red X in the middle of a circle, not unlike the pattern on the X men’s belts on his head and shoved his feet in black running shoes and called it good.  He had fewer visibility hang-ups than you would expect.

Piling out of the van Val had insisted on for cargo space and safety if nothing else, she pulled them into the big box store outside town, by the highway.  She gave Gar a cart, if only to keep him with her and tasked Kurt with getting the higher shelved items.  They had six bottles of Caro Syrup, two bottles of dish washing soap, an eight pack of off-brand washable tempera paint, a jumbo bottle of red food dye, and two kinds of cherry jello, when Val spotted a dusty Halloween vampire kit forgotten on the top shelf.  She was looking for a store employee when Kurt bamfed up and got it for her, before bamfing back down.

“They had two kinds, Schatz, Vampire Feeding Bite Caps and Zombie Blood Spatter.  I took both.”

“Oh, good.  Thanks Honey.”  She went up on tip toes to kiss him lightly, before realizing the store employee she’d called with the button for such cases was standing behind her.  “Sorry,” she told the guy staring at them.  “My boyfriend took some initiative, but it shouldn’t hurt your insurance rates, he was a flyer in a Bavarian circus, he’s not going to hurt himself on eleven foot shelves.”

“You’re them,” the guy stuttered.  “I’m Todd, I want to thank you both for what you did in February.  My Dad’s been on my little sister about her “mutant fixation” for a while,” he made air quotes as he spoke.  “I think he was close to joining that stupid cult, but that exposé job you guys did, and saving all those bigots, it really changed stuff for us.  I’ll get you the friends and family discount.  Use register 16.”

Val shrugged, not wanting to turn down a discount.  They picked up a few more things, and checked out.  Kurt seemed confused by the thanks, but Gar was just really proud the two people he looked up to most were being seen as heroes by other people.

Val mostly forgot it, between teaching, spending more time with Kurt, helping Gar not flunk math, running rehearsals, and fulfilling her promise to come visit Quin more.  The school was busy, and Parent’s Day was fast approaching, so she asked Rogue to cover her class while she ran out for some extra supplies.  Mindee had ripped a wing and she needed some more saran wrap to patch it, which she was buying as a man she vaguely recognized approached her.

“Hi, Neal Conan,” he introduced, before pulling out a photo to hold up by her face.

“What are you doing,” Val asked, batting away the paper.

“Confirming before I roll tape,” he answered and she remembered him.

“The reporter.”

“Yeah, I have had the worst time getting your scoop, you are really well hidden.  Gotta wonder why, most people love the fifteen minutes.”  He pulled out a small video camera.

“So, Momma Bear, that is what they call you, correct.”

“Not to my face at school if they don’t want detention.  I didn’t pick the name.  “I’m Val,” she though before she continued.  Her parents couldn’t get at her now any more than they could have at Chenoweth, and her second semester had included a criminal law class, so she was now aware how many CPS violations her parents racked up.  No court would take Gar from her with her evidence.  The Professor wanted peace, between mutant and human.  Sometimes that started small.  One camera.  She looked in it and checked the red recording light.  “My name is Valarie Logan, I teach at a private institute for gifted children.  My part in the 2/17 disaster was nothing more than getting a good friend and colleague back after her abduction.  If I saved others, it was the least I could do, being on the ground and all.”

“And the arrival of the X men, and the younger mutants?”

“Well, I’m dating an X man, and some of my students have been clapping chalkboard erasers for the stunt they pulled if you get my meaning.”

“Those were your students?” he asked incredulously.

“Some were, others became later, some were too old and now take collage classes, some left straight out.  My friend wasn’t the only abductee.”

“You’re saying the COH was kidnapping mutant kids?” he sounded horrified, but behind the camera she could see the dollar signs in his eyes at such a scandal.

“I have no idea if the greater COH had any idea what that branch was doing, all I know is that specific church broke more religious rules of more faiths than anything I’ve seen before, and I’m glad the prisoners got free.  What they were doing was sick and twisted, and any decent human being should stop that kind of thing when they can.”

“The X men aren’t exactly human,” he said, and Val, with a whole genetic biology course in her head, thanks to Xavier’s policy on teacher awareness of student needs and a quick download, smiled ruthlessly.

“Oh, but they are.  Mutations they may be, but there are multiple cases of active x gene mutants and baseline humans having viable progeny.  By definition, biologically speaking, they are the same species as us because of that.  Humanity is less about skin color, or body shape, or ability, than it is about the heart of the person.  I’ve met some inhumane baselines, and some evil mutants, but the majority of human kind, whether or not we can teleport or shape shift or manipulate weather patterns or re-grow fingers after accidents, are good, kind people.  I have to believe that the evil ones, the twisted minds, powers or no powers, are aberrations.  That we are mostly decent.  Because if I let the bad ones fill my nightmares, I miss the beauty in the good ones.  I would miss my brother’s laugh when he finds a new animal he can become.  I would miss the thanks of a grateful man who saw positive change in his family after what we did, together.  Mutant and baseline, working together for good.  We are humans, all of us, and we must be proud to be so, if we intend to do better than the ones before us.”

“Be honest, do you rehearse that?”

“I teach a drama class, improv games are half my life,” she said dryly.

“That’s got to be interesting, with some of your students being mutants.”

“Eh, they’re teens, it’s not _that_ different.  I just have to make sure my kiddo who can see through illusions narcs on her brother who’s invisible if he tries to leave.  It’s harder to get some of them to abandon their cell phones during play rehearsals.”

“You’re doing a play?”

“Midsummer Night’s Dream, by Shakespeare.”  She pointed to the saran wrap she was holding.  “I was just buying some wing patch for a fairy hand maid. And I might check out baking to see if they have shimmer dust.  If it’s edible it’s safer for facial application than craft glitter and cheaper than make up for large applications.”

“You work at a private school, I’m sure your budget can handle it.”

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh.  “The reflexes of raising a kid alone.”

“You don’t look quite old enough to be a single mother,” he pointed out as he followed her to checkout.

“I started raising my brother for my parents at age ten.  They didn’t want a mutant son.  So I raised him.  My allowance, babysitting money, donations from Marlowe, Chris Kittridge, you had an interview, all of it went to raising him.”

“That’s kind of amazing.”

“What can I say?  He’s my baby brother, he’s the color of grass, he turns into the entire animal kingdom, and I don’t regret a second of the life I was able to give him.”

“I meant that you could raise a kid at age ten and nobody knew about the neglect.  How is your life not on a Lifetime Original movie yet?”

“People don’t look for what they don’t want to see, Mister Conan,” she told him as they walked out the doors of the Salem Market and General store.  “They didn’t look past a lie about an immune disorder to see my brother trapped in his room until I could get him out.  They don’t look past people shouting and pundits theorizing to see there is nothing harmful about a girl who acts as a human thermostat, or her girlfriend who can hover five feet up.  It’s our one big failure.  We don’t look deep enough unless it’s our people being set up to burn.”

He snapped off the camera.  “You’re right,” he said simply, the smarmy reporter voice gone, replaced by a faint but very nasal Massachusetts accent.  “We don’t look unless we’re forced to.  It’s why your story dominated news cycles well past when an explosion would be old hat.  Why the only thing that shut it off was being forced to watch a Nazi division return from the dead to almost destroy freedom.  And why I’m asking for a press pass to film your school play.  If I can get that aired, even a local public station, we might start looking.”

She looked at him.  She thought a moment and pulled a pen from her messy bun to scribble a number on the back of her receipt.  “Call my boss, it’s on parent’s day, so you might get some side interviews too, but he has to sign off on the kids being recorded.  Jubilee’s parents threw a screaming fit when they saw the footage you shot.”

“Yeah, I got those phone calls too.  I’ll talk to your boss.  What’s his name.”

Val smiled, “Call him Professor X when you ask, he’ll know you got the number from one of the staff.”

“Kinda cloak and dagger, isn’t it?”

“It’s short for Xavier.  Nobody on staff calls him that.  We call him ‘the Professor’ or Professor X.  Well, Logan calls him Chuck, but nobody ever accused Logan Howlett of anything so mundane as tact.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Patreon: http://patreon.com/bairnsidhe
> 
> Tumblr: bairnsidhe.tumblr.com


	29. Think But This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Play Must Go On, they say. They never mention any of the other stuff that goes on too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, we have reached the end, dear friends. It was a long, wonderful crazy ride. I must thank naruturd for making this a possibility. Thanks muse.
> 
> And to every single person who read this, my deepest gratitude.

Parent’s day was upon them, and Val was glad Storm was on staff, because it was a beautiful, sunny, perfect day for the play.  The set had been constructed on some of the back lawn.  Large curtains on metal frames constructed by Kendrick and Prime hid the wings and the back stage  Chase had rigged a complex electric sliding blackout curtain and lights to put the stage into darkness for the night-time scenes and he and Doug had set up the command center on the tablet Doug was using as Stage Manager.  Flagstones painted on a sheet of canvas lay on the ground for the beginning, in Athens, and Sam was better than anyone in a black suit for swapping sets out.

Everyone knew their lines, the set was gorgeous, the day was perfect, the parents and Mr. Conan were due to arrive any minute.  That’s how Val knew something would go wrong.  Sure enough, G appeared without her trademark lipstick and big bags under her eyes for roll call.  She croaked out a quiet ‘here’ when Val called Puck’s name from the list.

“You are too sick.  Get some lemon and honey tea, go sit with your parents.”

“Don’t wanna.”

“Floater, get your infected butt away from the other actors and take care of yourself.  I know it’s sad to lose a chance, but you look like a stiff breeze could knock you over.”  Val sighed.  “There will be other plays.  But taking care of your body is the best thing to do now.”

“I don’t have an understudy.”

“Schatz?  The Cuckoos said hyu needed me?”

“Mister Wagner has been helping all of us with lines, I’m sure he can do it,” Phoebe said as she adjusted a wing.  “We need an understudy for Puck.”

“Kurt?  Would you mind, I wouldn’t ask but G is sick and…”

“Und I am the only one who both memorized the lines and can do the flight blocking vith teleportation.”

“Yeah.”

“Of course, Schatz.”  He kissed her, then touched G on the head.  “Go drink hot tea vith honey in it, Bärenjungen.”

“I hate when adults are right,” G croaked out.  But she went back inside. 

The Cuckoos and Kendrick, who had an eye for design, whipped up a costume for him, consisting of fake foliage from a Michaels in town, some left over pale blue pearlescent gauze from Prime’s costume and pulling Kurt’s hair back with some fake thorn vines over a hair tie.  Minutes to go, and things might work.  “Everybody, break a leg, and I’ll be here if you need me,” she said tapping her temple.  “Cuckoos will run relay if you need something.”  She smiled at them.  “You make me so proud.  Never forget that.”  Then she turned, checked her look in the mirror they had for that very purpose, and walked out onto the stage.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Neal Conan was already unpacking his mobile camera as the cab dropped him off.  The cabbie seemed confused, but Neal had been warned there were protections to keep the school safe that might make people confused.  He walked to the gates and shot a quick check clip of the sign proclaiming this as Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters before pressing the button on the intercom.

“This is Neal Conan, I have a pass to film the play,” he told the speaker.

“Mr. Conan, you’re early,” said a pleasant young woman’s voice.  “I’ll send Pete to go get you.  The campus is pretty big.”

‘Pete’ turned out to be a colossal man with very good manners and a Russian accent.

“Ah, Mister Conan, welcome,” he said as he opened the gate with a remote.  “It is not every day we get a reporter to film us as we are, people.  Is a very big day, da?”  They walked up the drive to a mansion.

“Yes, I really hope showing these kids as, well, kids, can help the mutant community.  And get me back on air.  All anyone wants is more dirt on Black Widow.  Like she didn’t already put it all out on the internet.”

“Hmm, I see.   I was saddened to hear what my country was doing, even while telling me it wanted only equality.  I knew, we all knew, that there was corruption.  It is Rossiya.  But the other things….  Not right.”

“Yes, well, tragedy and horror sells.  I’m hoping that some fun and truth will too.”

“You are in the right place for that,” Pete laughed.  “Would you like to do some interviews while you wait for the parents?”

“Yes, anyone willing to stick their face in front of my camera.”

“I can be of some help,” said a regal black woman with long snow white hair bound back in a French braid that ended at the base of her skull and then became a riot of white waves.  He pulled his camera up to catch her face.  “I love cameras.  Ororo Munroe, I teach basic biology, botany, and weather science.”

“Do you enjoy your job, ma’am?”

“Very much.  I went to school here myself, when it was much smaller.  I’m happy to pass on what I learned to my students.”

“Do their mutations cause any difficulty?”

“Only that it gives them more ways to pull pranks.  But they know not to mess around in my classes.”

“What’s the secret?”

“Mine is starting each semester by watering my plants in the Arboretum I use to teach.  With miniature thunderclouds.”  Her eyes whited out and a small thunderhead formed under her raised hand in the camera’s shot, complete with hair fine lightning.  She closed her fist and it vanished.  “Nobody messes with the weather witch,” she said with a small smile.

“Wow.  That’s, can you do it bigger too?”

“Who do you think kept New York from becoming New Atlantis during Sandy?  I also did some buffer work to buy hospitals time to evacuate during Katrina.  I can’t stop the big ones, but I can keep them off of helo-evac routes.  If the NWS would listen, I could probably also give a few extra days warning.  But I get accused of making them.  I’m not _that_ strong.”

“Thank you for your time,” he said politely.  Pausing the recording he asked who else was available.  He got a five-minute spot with the Professor about peace between mutants and humans, a quick double with a math teacher who could become living ice and a history teacher who turned into fire.  Magma, technically, but Ice and Fire was a popular theme.  He almost got punched by the P.E. teacher, before a woman with white bangs and long gloves stopped him.

“Ah’m Rogue, Ah teach the early grade English class.”

“Interesting name,” he said noncommittally.

“Not everah one wants a mutant child, and if mah Momma and mah Daddy didn’t want a mutant baby girl, then Ah don’t want their name, or any name they gave me.  Ah picked it when Ah was a teen.  We all have those embarrasin’ thangs from high school, just won’t go away.”

“Do Gambit’s ears deceive him, or his Chère talkin’ bout him?”

“Speakin’ of annoyin’ things from high school,” she made a face at the camera like one from that show The Office.  “Remy, not everah thang in this big ole world is about you.  Ah was talking ‘bout mah _name_.”

“I like your name, ma belle Chère.  Appeals to my rebel soul.  But who’s dis?”

“Mister Conan, meet Remy, mah for lack of a better word, boyfriend.”  As Remy turned to shake hands and face the camera, Neal caught a glimpse of red behind his sunglasses.

“And do you teach as well?” he asked the man, smothering the nascent fear in his gut.

“Non, not yet, in the next year, Remy’ll be teachin’ French and a practical auto class.  Gonna teach ‘em how to take apart an engine, put it back together, an’ all the ways to look for dangerous wear.  Maybe also Driver’s Ed, for the ones with learners permits.”

“No motorcycles, Remy, Ah mean it,” she waved a gloved finger at him.

“Chère, Remy be a lot of things, suicidal ain’t one.  Mrs. Lee will have heads rolling if Jubes gets her hands on a bike got more’n just pedals.”

“Good.  Yah _are_ an annoyin’ Swamp Rat, but yah happen to be _mah_ Swamp Rat.”

“Well, lovely meeting you, Mr. Conan, but Remy got to go help la petite folle put up set bits and such.”  He dropped a light kiss to Rogue’s temple and her eyes glowed magenta as black flooded the whites.  Then he was gone and her eyes were a nice shade of green.

Unsure what to say, he was saved by a slim young woman whose voice he recognized from the front gate.

“Hi, Mr. Conan, I would have met you myself, but we’re prepping for parent’s day, and I was running the security scans.”

“Security scans?” he asked, back in investigative reporter mode.  The camera caught her face, but she was looking at him, giving him a nice profile as she tucked light brown hair behind an ear with a small gold star of David earring.

“Well, the school has been attacked before, and parent’s day is one of the times we’re not able to just pull up the drawbridge and wait out a siege.  So we up the scans for dangerous items, certain people who aren’t allowed in, that sort of thing.  Some of our students are emancipated minors, they have restraining orders on their abusers, so we report any violators to the police.  It’s mostly automated, and far less awkward than a TSA scanner, but it does the same thing, as well as run facial recognition patterns if someone who should not be allowed around the children shows up.  I was setting up the report protocols so a real person can check it out.  Facial recognition programs have come a long way, but I’ll take Logan’s nose over a computer any day.  And I teach computer science.”

“You certainly are thorough, but it wasn’t at all something I was aware of.”

“The system is designed to be non-intrusive.  Why punish the parents that love their kids and want the best for them, just because some parents are jerks?”

“That’s very enlightened of you, considering past attacks.”

“We try to take a higher road, here.  The first of the parents just got here, would you like me to set you up in a classroom to do interviews?”

“Yes, that would be lovely.”

“I can put you in Val’s room, she’s busy with the play anyhow.”

Valarie Logan’s classroom was not what he expected.  Brightly colored beanbag chairs covered the floor, and a plain wood desk sat facing the door.  One wall held a whiteboard with diagrams of stage layouts drawn in purple marker, opposite that was a large cork-board with designs and sketches of costumes and sets and one circuit board layout pinned to it with a rainbow of pushpins shaped like handlebar mustaches, rubber ducks, sports equipment, hearts, lady bugs, and a large variety of video gaming items, like blue turtle shells, cactuar, mushrooms, and the ghosts from Pac-Man.  Some of them looked handmade.  The wide windows behind her had thin tracing paper with colored shapes taped up to look like stained glass.  Most of them featured her in some way, helping a student, punching a man who looked like the P.E. teacher, wreathed in light as she held out a hand.  Some was pretty good.  Most looked like a more innovative form of refrigerator art.

He was startled out of filming the room by an addition at the door.  A tall black woman with long braids in her hair stood beside a shorter man with hospital blue scrubs poking above his white formal shirt.  “We’re the O’Donnal’s, we heard you were doing a piece on Kendrick’s play?”

“Yes, I’m Neal Conan.  This is your son’s classroom, for drama, I was told it would be empty because of preparations.”

“We’re just pleased as punch about it, our baby is going to play Lysander, one of the stars.”

“They all are stars, Donna,” her husband said.  “This whole play was a great idea.  Kendrick tells us the class has already done an analysis of Merchant of Venice, and they all wrote rebuttals to the “quality of mercy” speech.  He sent us a copy of his, it was really good.  I didn’t even know Kendrick would understand Shakespeare so young, much less write a compelling rebuttal in iambic pentameter.  That Val Logan has done so much.”

“You’re telling me!” said another woman, in an ice blue sweater set and skirt.  A tall man behind her held the hand of a thin white-blonde woman wearing blue lipstick.  No, wait, her lips were just naturally a pale blue.  “She saved Ruth from those horrible cult people.  And Sarah hasn’t stopped singing her praises over the phone.  You know Sarah used to have a stutter?  Now she’s playing a leading lady in Shakespeare.  We’re the Smiths,” she added hastily.

He asked a few lowball questions about finding out their children were mutants, finding the school, how the grades were going, all small stuff.  More parents came and went.  Mrs. Lee was even more frightening in person, five foot nothing and blond and blue-eyed, she should look like a cute little doll.  She didn’t.  She was very protective of Jubilation, her daughter.  She’d only agreed to let her come because Jubilation had been blowing things up so often by accident that she barricaded herself in her room.

“So, how do you feel about your daughter’s role in the heroic 2/17 rescue of abducted mutants, COH members and protesters?”  The hardball.  She could take it, he just wasn’t sure he could take the answer.

“I was furious at first, seeing that footage.  My baby, in danger.  That was all I could see.  Then she called me to explain it wasn’t the school’s fault, she sneaked onto the mission and demanded to help.  She likes her teachers, and two were in danger. I stopped being angry at the school and Miss Logan.  But Jubilation will be grounded until she’s legal to drink, rest assured.  Then I got the first letter.”  She pulled out a thick stack of paper from her bag.  “This one is from a girl named Molly.  She says my daughter got her to safety in the explosion.  She’s twelve.  This one is from a girl in San Diego, she can interface with televisions, that’s how she got my address, by trying to find Jubilation from the clip.  She was losing control of her powers and her parents kicked her out.  Sandy has been sleeping in our guest room, because she’s fourteen and no good mother lets a fourteen-year-old child go homeless for something they can’t control.  I hired a lawyer to get her legally under my care so I can send her to Xavier’s.  Until then, well, it’s not like we keep many electronics anymore incase Jubilation has an accident.”  She lifted the stack again, now weighty with understanding.  “My daughter is a reckless fool, but she’s a hero too.  I want her safe, I also want her doing what is right and good, helping people, and I know I can’t have both.  But my daughter matters to so many people.  I’m proud of her.”

The intercom chimed and the play’s start time was announced.  Neal packed up his small handheld and went to set up the big tripod mount camera in a good spot.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Val Logan walked out onto the stage in a loose knee length tunic that simultaneously felt Shakespearean and called to mind ancient Greece.  Under that were galaxy print leggings that, when combined with the loose fall of curls to one side held back by a flowered crown and the slight purple cast to her lips and the flash of blue at her eyes gave her an otherworldly look.

“Welcome, friends and welcome family, to the Xavier’s School Player’s debut performance.”  After a brief applause, Val continued.  “Today we cast ourselves back, further even than the Bard who wrote this tale of love and comedy, to ancient Athens, where weddings plague the minds of many, and Fairy creatures stalk the woods.  Please do not use flash photographs or cell phones during the play, the fae are fickle, and we would not want any to leave us in the middle of our Midsummer Night’s Dream."  She vanished in a cloud of smoke, and Johnny and Sarah moved into place, as Theseus and Hippolyta, with one of the younger kids as their attendant.

The play progressed, and the audience ate it up, cheering and clapping at all the right points.  Chase’s Nick Bottom brought belly laughs as Gert’s Peter Quince shut down his attempt to take every role in their play.  The other Runaways played the other players, Nico brought down the house protesting playing Thisbe on the matter that she was growing a beard.  Dressed in ancient Athenian costume it wasn’t super apparent Nico was a girl, but her horror at playing one was hilarious.

When Puck begins act two, Kurt simply teleported in above the crowd high enough they didn’t see the smoke and tumbled lightly to the ground before springing up with a bow to the regally floating Raven, who was using her telekinesis to flap the dark blue wings on her back and maintain some height.

“How now, spirit!  And whither wander you?” he asked her teasingly, and everyone clapped.  Val was amazed how his accent faded into a pale otherworldly tinge to his voice.

The play concluded, all couples happily paired off, and Prime as Oberon, Karolina as Titania, and Kurt as Puck blessed the palace of Theseus.  Prime and Karolina left the stage, leaving Kurt.  From the wings, Val could see the sweat beading on the lighter areas of his fur, which was odd, he hadn’t been doing more teleportation than would give him a workout in the danger room.  The extra acrobatics might be it, she supposed as he leapt gracefully up and bamfed down among the crowd of watchers on blankets.  This wasn’t the blocking, but he addressed them all, even sharing a meaningful glance with the camera as he spoke.

“If we shadows have offended,  
Think but this, and all is mended,  
That you have but slumber'd here  
While these visions did appear.  
And this weak and idle theme,  
No more yielding but a dream,  
Gentles, do not reprehend:  
if you pardon, we will mend:  
And, as I am an honest Puck,  
If we have unearned luck  
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,  
We will make amends ere long;  
Else the Puck a liar call;  
So, good night unto you all.  
Give me your hands, if we be friends,  
And Robin shall restore amends.”

There was great applause, but Kurt wasn’t done.  In his own voice he spoke again.

“In truth though I be Puck no more,  
I haff one last task upon mein score.  
I beg that for this simple honest Puck  
Please give all wishes for good luck,  
For a Lady Fair I _also_ woo,  
She is all my dreams made true  
No flower haff I used to change her sight  
And now I dare my troth to plight”

He turned to look at her where she had stepped out onto the stage when she thought the play had ended.

“Maiden fair, my Valarie  
Vouldst thee consent to marry me?”

There was a pause of about half a second before Val held out her hand to him and he walked to hold it.

“Nightcrawler, Puck, or Kurt alone,  
You have made this house my home.  
The blessing of my brother I now ask  
For you take him as well with this task  
Garfield Logan, Beast Boy of green  
Say you approve of what you’ve seen,  
And soon gain a brother of another hue  
For I have love enough in me for two.”

Gar whooped from where he’d come out for curtain call, since she’d conscripted him to be the Changeling Child.

“My answer then it seems is yes.”

Kurt dropped to one knee and pulled a box she knew he hadn’t had earlier.  He must have gone back into the house for it, no wonder he was sweating.  In the box was a custom ring, a three looped Mobius of sliver held a blue stone on one side, a green on the other and a pale clear stone that looked like a massive diamond until she tilted it.  Purple.  The color she’d claimed as her own once she no longer needed to reassure her brother or her, well he was her fiancé now.  Kurt slipped it on her hand.

They had the curtain call, and many congratulations and flowers were given out, and Val was given a huge bouquet of assorted flowers, and she looked around.  It wasn’t the life she’d thought about, literally ever, but it was a good one.


	30. After Credits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The obligatory Marvel After Credits scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for Nightmare_24.

Mark and Marie Logan were normal, ordinary people who had normal, ordinary lives.  Everyone knew this, and everyone politely side-stepped the fact their 18-year-old daughter ran away from home when her badly immune-compromised brother died.  Until Neal Conan and the clip of the 2/17 explosion dominated the news.  Suddenly it was “Doesn’t that girl look a bit like… OH, Marie, I didn’t know you were there!” and “Hey, Mark, you hear anything from the Kittridge boy?  He was friends with your Valarie, right?”

They were honestly a little relieved to hear about Black Widow dumping classified documents on the internet.  Until the day a former friend slapped a DVD recording onto Mark’s chest with a snarl at Marie.  It was one of those PBS art special things, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with commentary by Neal Conan.  They hated that man, but they had to know what he’d said about them, so they watched it.

“Hi, I’m Neal Conan,” said the man in front of a bland blue backdrop.  “What you are about to watch is history in the making, a vast leap forward out of fear and hatred and towards true understanding and love.  I was given special permission to video at a very special school.  A school for mutant children, where they learn, play pranks, and grow, like any other child in any other school.”

The scene cut to a shot of a sign, Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters.  “This is something never before broadcast,” Neal Conan continued on voice over.  Shots of a nice school in an old mansion followed.  “Here’s what the mysterious Momma Bear had to say about it.”

Valarie, their Valarie, showed up, frazzled and looking rather done with everything.  “My name is Valarie Logan, I teach at a private institute for gifted children.  My part in the 2/17 disaster was nothing more than getting a good friend and colleague back after her abduction.  If I saved others, it was the least I could do, being on the ground and all.”

“And the arrival of the X men, and the younger mutants?” asked the reporter from off camera.

“Well, I’m dating an X man, and some of my students have been clapping chalkboard erasers for the stunt they pulled if you get my meaning.”

“Those were your students?”

“Some were, others became later, some were too old and now take collage classes, some left straight out.  My friend wasn’t the only abductee.”

“You’re saying the COH was kidnapping mutant kids?”

“I have no idea if the greater COH had any idea what that branch was doing, all I know is that specific church broke more religious rules of more faiths than anything I’ve seen before, and I’m glad the prisoners got free.  What they were doing was sick and twisted, and any decent human being should stop that kind of thing when they can.”

“The X men aren’t exactly human,” he pointed out and Valarie smiled in a way that wasn’t at all nice.

“Oh, but they are.  Mutations they may be, but there are multiple cases of active x gene mutants and baseline humans having viable progeny.  By definition, biologically speaking, they are the same species as us because of that.  Humanity is less about skin color, or body shape, or ability, than it is about the heart of the person.  I’ve met some inhumane baselines, and some evil mutants, but the majority of human kind, whether or not we can teleport or shape shift or manipulate weather patterns or re-grow fingers after accidents, are good, kind people.  I have to believe that the evil ones, the twisted minds, powers or no powers, are aberrations.  That we are mostly decent.  Because if I let the bad ones fill my nightmares, I miss the beauty in the good ones.  I would miss my brother’s laugh when he finds a new animal he can become.  I would miss the thanks of a grateful man who saw positive change in his family after what we did, together.  Mutant and baseline, working together for good.  We are humans, all of us, and we must be proud to be so, if we intend to do better than the ones before us.”

The scene cut to a side view of her. “I started raising my brother for my parents at age ten.  They didn’t want a mutant son.  So I raised him.  My allowance, babysitting money, donations from Marlowe, Chris Kittridge, you had an interview, all of it went to raising him.”

“That’s kind of amazing.”

“What can I say?  He’s my baby brother, he’s the color of grass, he turns into the entire animal kingdom, and I don’t regret a second of the life I was able to give him.”

“I meant that you could raise a kid at age ten and nobody knew about the neglect.  How is your life not on a Lifetime Original movie yet?”

“People don’t look for what they don’t want to see, Mister Conan,” she said with the word Salem framed behind her head.  “They didn’t look past a lie about an immune disorder to see my brother trapped in his room until I could get him out.  They don’t look past people shouting and pundits theorizing to see there is nothing harmful about a girl who acts as a human thermostat, or her girlfriend who can hover five feet up.  It’s our one big failure.  We don’t look deep enough unless it’s our people being set up to burn.”

“So, tonight, we’re going to look deeper at the so-called ‘mutant menace’,” he said on voice over before cutting to interviews with a white-hared black woman who conjured him a thundercloud the size of a soft ball, a blonde man who gave a rose made of ice to a pretty Brazillian woman who melted it into a mug of tea with a hand made of fire, and a southern accented woman with white stripes in her hair.  What she said shocked them.

“Not everah one wants a mutant child, and if mah Momma and mah Daddy didn’t want a mutant baby girl, then Ah don’t want their name, or any name they gave me.  Ah picked it when Ah was a teen.  We all have those embarrasin’ thangs from high school, won’t go away.”

“Do Gambit’s ears deceive him, or his Chère talkin’ bout him?”

“Speakin’ of annoyin’ things from high school.  Remy, not _everah_ thang in this big ole world is about you.  Ah was talking ‘bout mah _name_.”

“I like your name, ma belle Chère.  Appeals to my rebel soul.  But who’s dis?”

“Mister Conan, meet Remy, mah for lack of a better word, boyfriend.”  The camera moved and caught a glimpse of red behind his sunglasses.

“And do you teach as well?”

“Non, not yet, in the next year, Remy’ll be teachin’ French and a practical auto class.  Gonna teach ‘em how to take apart an engine, put it back together, an’ all the ways to look for dangerous wear.  Maybe also Driver’s Ed, for the ones with learners permits.”

The camera showed a light kiss to Rogue’s temple and her eyes glowed magenta as black flooded the whites.

“Not everything is happy teachers and laughing kids,” the voice-over continued as the film showed a game of powered tag on a grassy lawn.  “This school has seen its share of trouble, and found a way to deal with it.  I’ll let Kitty Pryde, computer science teacher, explain.”

The screen switched to a pretty brown-haired girl. “The school has been attacked before,” she said. “And parent’s day is one of the times we’re not able to just pull up the drawbridge and wait out a siege.  So we up the scans for dangerous items, certain people who aren’t allowed in, that sort of thing.  Some of our students are emancipated minors, they have restraining orders on their abusers, so we report any violators to the police.  It’s mostly automated, and far less awkward than a TSA scanner, but it does the same thing, as well as run facial recognition patterns if someone who should not be allowed around the children shows up.  I was setting up the report protocols so a real person can check it out.  Facial recognition programs have come a long way, but I’ll take Logan’s nose over a computer any day.  And I _teach_ computer science.”

“You certainly are thorough, but it wasn’t at all something I was aware of.”

“The system is designed to be non-intrusive.  Why punish the parents that love their kids and want the best for them, just because some parents are jerks?”

“That’s very enlightened of you, considering past attacks.”

“We try to take a higher road, here.”

Higher road?  Mark and Marie shared a look as parents gave interviews.

“This whole play was a great idea,” said a man captioned as Dr. Roger O’Donnal.  “Kendrick tells us the class has already done an analysis of Merchant of Venice, and they all wrote rebuttals to the “quality of mercy” speech.  He sent us a copy of his, it was really good.  I didn’t even know Kendrick would understand Shakespeare so young, much less write a compelling rebuttal in iambic pentameter.  That Val Logan has done so much.”

“Dr. and Dr. O’Donnal are not the only parents to feel that way,” the voiceover told them.

A woman in an ice blue sweater set and skirt and a tall man held the hand of a thin white-blonde woman with naturally pale blue lips.  “She saved Ruth from those horrible cult people,” the mother said and Ruth, the mutant, blushed light blue.  “And Sarah hasn’t stopped singing her praises over the phone.  You know Sarah used to have a stutter?  Now she’s playing a leading lady in Shakespeare.”

Other parents gave glowing reviews of Val, as did a few students.  An older student, one Val’s age just looked at the camera and smiled, saying “I have literally every single reason to hate baseline humans.  I don’t.  Because of Val Logan, because she is the best of humanity, mutated or not.”

“And now,” the voice-over said, “without further ado, I’ll show you what I came here for.”

A stage dominated a section of grass in the afternoon light.  Valarie stood on the stage looking like a magical being.

“Welcome, friends and welcome family, to the Xavier’s School Player’s debut performance.  Today we cast ourselves back, further even than the Bard who wrote this tale of love and comedy, to ancient Athens, where weddings plague the minds of many, and Fairy creatures stalk the woods.  Please do not use flash photographs or cell phones during the play, the fae are fickle, and we would not want any to leave us in the middle of our Midsummer Night’s Dream."

The play was good.  They watched it in silence until the blue man, with the devil tail broke script to keep talking in Shakespearean language.

“In truth though I be Puck no more,  
I haff one last task upon mein score.”

“He’s German?” Mark asked.

“It’s that Nightcrawler boy from the videos, he’s German, Mark.” Marie hushed him.

“For a Lady Fair I _also_  woo,  
She is all my dreams made true  
No flower haff I used to change her sight  
And now I dare my troth to plight

Maiden fair, my Valarie  
Vouldst thee consent to marry me?”

“WHAT!” they both yelled.

“He’s a MUTANT!” Mark yelled.

“Our daughter is getting proposed to on TV and that’s your take away, Mark?” Marie asked, looking at him like she’d never seen him before.  She rewound a bit and started it with Nightcrawler a step below Valarie, as they held hands.  She remembered looking at Mark like that once.

“Nightcrawler, Puck, or Kurt alone,  
You have made this house my home.  
The blessing of my brother I now ask  
For you take him as well with this task  
Garfield Logan, Beast Boy of green  
Say you approve of what you’ve seen,  
And soon gain a brother of another hue  
For I have love enough in me for two.”

A loud whooping cry came from off stage.  Marie began to cry.

“My answer then it seems is yes.”

The camera zoomed in on the ring the three-fingered hands were slipping on Val’s.  That was a gorgeous ring, and Marie suddenly wanted to go brag about the wealthy man her daughter got engaged to, only… she had no right to.  She watched her babies take final bows and laugh and celebrate with friends.  Her baby girl grew up and she missed it, with no-one to blame but herself.  Her baby boy had become a happy, exuberant young man, and he had a family who loved him and she wasn’t a part of it.  Neal Conan’s voice was talking about how to call in if you wanted to enroll your child, and Marie grabbed the phone.

“What are you doing?” Mark demanded.

“What we should have been able to do in person, if you don’t like it, get out of my house.  Yes, is this Xavier’s School for… for gifted youngsters?”

“Sure is, Ma’am.  How may I handle your call?”

“Tell my children I’m sorry.  I did the unforgivable, and I’m glad Valarie and Garfield are happy now.  And you tell that Nightcrawler boy, Kurt she said, I came to my senses and… and if he breaks her heart, I’ll… oh I don’t have a right to, but I’ll scold that boy until my face is just as blue as his if he hurts my children.”

“Mrs. Logan?”

“I know I don’t deserve forgiveness, Lord knows I was bad enough.  But I learned, I did.  I promise.”  She hung up.

The next day, Valarie, Garfield, and Kurt showed up as Mark was vacating the property.  It wasn’t the family Marie wanted to begin with, but it was what she had, and she was glad.


End file.
